Out in the Wilderness
by multicoloredmango
Summary: A much needed camping trip for the four turtles turns into a dangerous adventure in the forest! Read, review, and enjoy as the story progresses.
1. Chapter 1

Whelp, I guess I'm getting the hang of writing stories. Now I just can't seem to stop. Anyways, I don't own the turtles and yada yada yada. I haven't written a multi-chapter story before, so bear with me here; I always start our slow but things will get better later on. Oh yeah, and don't forget to review because I'd like to know what you all think! And without any further ado—my story…

"Hey Donnie?" Mikey asked, shifting his backpack.

"What?"

"Are we there yet?"

"No Mikey," Don gave an exasperated sigh, not bothering to turn around to face his younger brother. "For the last time, we are not at the campsite and I don't know how much longer it will take, so stop asking me!"

"Yeah Donnie, but we've been hikin' for four whole hours and Masta' Splinta' said that we'd reach it _before_ sunset!" Raph said, entering the conversation.

Don looked up to where the sun was just going beyond the horizon and sighed again. "We'll find it. Eventually…" he trailed off.

Upon this train of thought, Mikey's eyes grew wide. "We-we aren't lost are we?" he suddenly blurted out, swiveling his head to Leo.

"No, we're definitely going the right way," Leo said quickly to reassure his brother. "By following this river—" he motioned to the left of him "—we should find a large clearing marked with a large boulder. It'll be big enough so that we won't miss it."

"Oh yeah, and how do you know?" Mikey pouted, crossing his arms.

"Because Master Splinter told me," Leo shot back.

"And how does _he_ know?" Mikey asked flippantly, hoping to end his boredom.

"Um, well..." Leo gave his brother an amused grin. "Who knows? Maybe he—"

"Nevermind!" Mikey interrupted, knowing a lecture about mystic powers was something that would only add to the endless boredom of the four hour hike.

The four turtles walked in silence for a few minutes, trudging along the dense forest of trees and shrubs next to the running river. The silence was soon broken with an annoyed groan from Michelangelo, who turned to the brother beside him and said, "Hey Raph, do you think we're almost there yet?"

"Mikey! How many times do we gotta tell ya?" Raph raised his first angrily at Mikey. "We're not—"

"Wait!" Don cut Raph off, pointing over his head. "There it is!" Raph, Mikey, and Leo all turned their heads to the direction Don was pointing, due west of the river. A wide clearing lay off in the distance, along with a grey boulder which sat next to its entrance.

"Woo hew!" Mikey shouted, jumping. He pushed past his brothers and ran to the clearing. Upon reaching it, he dropped his pack on the ground and sat down, exhaling loudly. "Whew. I thought I wasn't gonna make it!" he said as Leo, Don and Raph arrived at the clearing.

Raph chuckled at Mikey's comment. "Aww, was the hike too much for widdle Mikey?" he teased.

"Very funny, Raph," Mikey responded sarcasticly. "You're not the one who had to carry these babies." He smiled widely as he reached into his backpack to pull out a large bag of marshmallows.

"Yeah, I can't imagine the weight of that thing…" Raph sneered.

Leo suddenly looked very concerned at Mikey's sugary treat. "Mikey, please tell me that you brought enough food for three days."

"And that it's not all junk food," Don added.

"Of course I did, bros," he replied as he opened the bag of marshmallows. "What do you take me for?" Mikey said, rolling his eyes.

"A lot of things, Mikey. But 'prepared' ain't one of 'em," Raph said with a sly grin.

"Hey!" Mikey cried, in mid-chew of a marshmallow.

Raph snickered loudly at his younger brother's offended pout but stopped abruptly as a marshmallow smacked him in the face. His expression changed from a satisfied smirk to an angry frown. "Mikey…" he growled as his younger brother laughed, clutching his stomach. "Come're you shell head!" Raph shouted as he dove for Mikey. Instantly, Mikey jumped away, the marshmallows forgotten as he evaded his brother's oncoming attacks. Leo and Don, who both had been watching the whole fight, shook their heads in disappointment as Raph and Mikey disappeared behind the forest trees, but made no movement to pursue their brothers. They went back to their conversation about the activities for the next day.

Back at the fight in the forest, Raph became more and more irritated as his brother continued to escape his wrath, and the two brothers found themselves getting farther away from the clearing.

Perhaps a bit too far.

And it wasn't until Mikey turned around to find the river right behind him that he realized it was too late. At once, he stopped in his tracks and twisted to face Raph and warn him. "Wait! The—" was all he could get out before Raph pounced on him, sending both turtles into freezing cold water.

After a few seconds, Raph's head came out of the water with an angry shout, even madder than before. Immediately, he gripped the bank at the edge of the river to prevent him from drifting off in the fairly swift current. As soon as he regained his balance, he crossed his arms and rubbed his shivering arms as his eyes darted across the river, looking for the cause of this mess. "Mikey…ya betta' not be hidin' cause I'm gonna—" at the sound of water splashing Raph cut himself off and turned to look in the direction the noise came from. He silently watched as Mikey's head came out of the water, surprisingly a good twenty feet downstream. He angrily waded over to his brother while yelling, "That's it, Mikey! It's all yer fault that we're in this stupid river. You n' me are havin' words!"

But Raph's menacing tone did not reach his shivering brother as Mikey started to cough and gag, spewing out water. As he felt his older brother approach his side, he muttered between coughs, "Ugg, I think I *cough, cough* swallowed too much water and it went *cough, cough* down the wrong way…"

Raph made a repulsed face as Mikey started to cough more deeply. After Raph swam them both to the edge of the river, he pulled Mikey out and started to roughly pat his brother on the shell, anger now lost as he comforted his coughing brother. "Jeez, what are you Mikey? A whale?" he said once Mikey stopped coughing.

Mikey gave a lopsided smile and decided to ignore Raph's comment. "Dude, next time I suggest we run _away_ from the river," he said as the two turtles made their way back to the campsite. Suddenly, Raph gave him the usual smack on the back of his head. "Hey!" Mikey squealed. "What was that for?" he eyed Raph warily with a pout.

"That was fer making me freeze my shell off in the river. And this—" he smacked Mikey a second time with a little more force, "—is for suggesting that there will be a next time!"

"Ouch!" Mikey wailed, rubbing his head. As the two entered the clearing, Mikey sent a glare to Raph as he turned to face his brothers, who at the moment were busy with making a small campfire.

"What took you guys so long?" Don called from his spot next to a circle of fist-sized rocks. He looked up from his bed of twigs, branches, and brush that he had just finished piling within the neatly placed rocks. "And why are you guys wet?"

Mikey grinned and replied, "Well, we kinda had a dip in the river—"

"—cause somebody didn't look where he was going," Raph finished.

"Whatever bro," Mikey gave an annoyed look to Raph before turning back to Don. "Anyway, I had a hearty taste-testing session with the river water and let me tell ya, it tastes much grosser than it looks! I give it a two for nastiness," he declared, scrunching up his face as he remembered the unpleasant experience.

Don sighed at his brother's revelation. "Of course it tastes bad, Mikey," he said matter-of-factly. "That river probably has a lot of dirt and bacteria and possibly—"

"Eew Donnie, don't give me the details!" Mikey interjected as he stuck his tongue out. "I so don't wanna know what I could've just ingested."

"Well, knowing what disgusting thing you're eating hasn't exactly stopped you before," Leo commented with a smirk. "Remember your birthday sandwich?"

"Hey, how was I supposed to know birthday cake doesn't go with leftovers?" Mikey pouted, knowing that his argument would be in vain. Don and Leo started to laugh at the memory and soon all four turtles were sharing a good laugh.

As the turtles calmed down, Leo stood up and said, "Okay guys, it's already dark and we should really get this fire started. Who brought the matches?"

"I did," said Raph as he went and started to search through his backpack. He came back and struck the match a few times before he got a flame.

"Make sure that fire is contained, Raph," Leo warned.

"Yeah, yeah I know Leo," Raph responded with an annoyed tone.

Carefully, he placed it in the bed of brush that rested underneath the pile of wood his brothers had collected. All four turtles gathered around and watched the fire as it grew. After a few minutes, Mikey got up and started to wander around the campsite. He scanned the ground, as if looking for something. Puzzled, the remaining three brothers looked at one another and then back to Mikey.

"Watcha doing, Mikey?" Don asked.

"Hehe," Mikey said with a devious grin. "You'll see." He picked up a few things from the ground and then rummaged his backpack. Finally, he made his way back to the fire and held up his findings to his brothers. In his hands were four long, skinny sticks and his bag of marshmallows. "Ta da!" he said proudly.

"Huh. Junk food and Mikey. Who would'a guessed?" Raph said as he, Don, and Leo were handed a stick and some marshmallows.

"But you can't have a camping trip without roasted marshmallows!" Mikey argued. With a snort from Raph and an amused chuckle from Don and Leo, the four turtles moved in closer to the fire and started to heat their marshmallows. Leo roasted his marshmallow methodically, rotating his stick every few seconds; Raph then teased Leo for his too-perfect golden marshmallow. Don decided to hold his marshmallow above the fire so it wouldn't burn, but didn't rotate it like Leo. Raph and Mikey almost charred their marshmallows, holding it a little too close to the fire; they were too impatient to wait like Don or Leo. When one of Raph's marshmallows caught on fire, he quickly went to blow it out. Leo returned the earlier teasing from Raph to laugh at his brother's mistake. Raph growled at Leo but didn't seem to care as he ate his burnt marshmallow anyway. All in all, the turtle brothers spent a peaceful night talking and eating around the campfire.

"What are we doing out here anyway?" Mikey asked as the campfire discussion had come onto the subject of their travels.

"What do you mean, Mikey?" Don asked.

"Well, I know that we had to leave the lair because of that gas leak, but that still doesn't explain what we're doing out here camping." Mikey shifted his position to get a better look at his brothers. "I mean, why does Master Splinter get to stay at Casey's grandmother's farmhouse while we have to hike and camp and stuff?"

"I think it's to get a break from our usually chaotic lives," Leo said as he moved his eyes from the fire to his youngest brother. "If you think about it, we've been so caught up in our battles and in saving the world that we haven't really spent much time together as brothers."

"That makes sense," Don commented. "And if we were at the farmhouse, we'd probably go off and do our own thing."

"There's a good reason for that, you know," Raph grinned as he looked at Mikey.

"What?" Mikey looked suspiciously at Raph, oblivious to the insult.

"Nothin' bro," Raph replied, the devilish smile still on his face.

Eventually, the turtles decided to go to sleep. After they rolled out their sleeping bags, they put out the fire and said their goodnights.

The next morning, Leo was first to wake up as always to start his usual meditation. He guessed it was about 7:00, for he figured his internal clock always seemed to get him up on time, but was surprised to find that it was actually 8:05 when checking his shell cell. "I guess this camping trip really has made us more relaxed," he softly mumbled to himself. He looked over to his sleeping brothers and smiled at the peaceful scene.

About an hour later, Don and Raph woke up to find Leo starting the fire again. "Anyone want some tea?" he asked, pointing to the small kettle he was holding.

"No thanks," Don said.

Leo nodded and then looked to Raph. "Nah, I'm good," Raph muttered as he started munching on cereal from a box that he had pulled out from his bag.

After Leo made his tea, he looked over to the youngest turtle, still asleep. "Should we wake Mikey up?" he asked.

"No…we can let him sleep in a bit more," Don answered as he watched Mikey tenderly. "He's always complaining about waking up too early."

Another forty minutes passed and Mikey finally woke up with a loud yawn.

"Good morning."

Mikey sleepily turned to the voice and rubbed his eyes. "Mornin', Donnie," he said in a hoarse whisper. He looked around the campsite.

"Raph and Leo went out to scout the forest for a bit," said Don, knowing what Mikey was looking for. "They should be back soon."

Mikey said nothing in response, so Don went back to looking over his notes in the journal he had brought with him. A few more minutes passed and Don looked up again from his journal. Hearing nothing from his younger brother, he expected to see Mikey eating breakfast. It was unusual for him to be quiet, especially in the morning. But he found Mikey sitting in the same position with an odd expression on his face. Puzzled, Don opened his mouth to question Mikey about his unusual behavior but was cuff off by the niose of his brothers returning from their walk.

"Hey Don, we're back," Leo called. He then noticed the youngest was awake and added, "Oh, and good morning Mikey."

But before Mikey had a chance to greet Leo, Raph butted in excitedly, "Hey guys, you'll never guess what I found!"

"What we found," Leo corrected.

"Oh, no, Leo. That was all me." Raph thrusted a finger to his chest to emphasize his point. "I'm the one who—"

"—Continue," Don said evenly, with an annoyed tone.

"Uh, right." Raph sheepishly rubbed the back of head. "Anyway, if ya follow the river, about twenty minutes north of here is a big water fall."

"Wow, so close?" Don asked with an impressed smile.

"Yeah, we were thinking of having a good swim there, if you don't mind the cold," Leo said.

"Sounds good," Don said.

Leo and Raph then turned to Mikey and were met with the same expression Don had seen.

Raph walked in front of his younger brother with a sarcastic grin. "Whatcha zoning out there for, Mikey? Been thinkin' too hard?" Mikey instantly whipped his head up to Raph with an angry pout on his face, but still said nothing. "Helloooooo? Anything in there?" Raph said as he knocked on Mikey's head.

Mikey swatted the hand away. "My brain of course," he said in a rough whisper. He flinched at the noise and rubbed his throat.

"What's wrong with yer voice?" Raph asked, bending over to see his brother eye to eye.

Mikey grimaced. "Sore," he whispered, a hand still on his throat.

"Yer voice is sore?" Raph asked confusedly.

"No Raph," Don stepped beside Mikey and kneeled down. "His throat is sore, and that's why he sounds like that." He turned to the youngest. "You okay? Do you want some water?" At the suggestion, Mikey vigorously shook his head no. "Then why don't you eat some breakfast or something? I'm sure whatever is making your throat sore will get better if you have some fluids and food in your system." He looked hopefully at Mikey. The orange-banded turtle promptly opened his mouth to speak but made a pained face and quickly shut it. He shook his head no again. Leo, Raph, and Don looked at Mikey incredulously. Mikey didn't want to eat? The turtle with the iron stomach who bested his brothers in the stuffing-your-face-with-food department? And the worst part was that Mikey didn't make fun of them for the ridiculous expression that showed on their faces.

"What's wrong with ya?" Raph asked to break the unnerving silence.

Don knowingly put a hand on Mikey shoulder. "Your throat hurts that much?" When Mikey nodded, Don went into full doctor mode. "Do you feel okay? Any nausea? Dizziness? Is there anthing else that hurts?"

Mikey got up the courage to speak. "No," he whispered so softly that his brothers barely heard it. He still seemed in pain by the action but smiled anyway. "I'm fine, bro. Can we go swimming?" he asked anxiously in his whispered voice.

"Fine?" said Raph, his voice rising. "How are ya fine if we can barely hear ya?"

"And you won't eat?" Leo added.

"Jus' a sore throat, no biggie," Mikey murmured softly, a smile still on his face. He suddenly got up as if to say he was okay.

Leo sighed and turned to Don expectantly. "Mikey," Don started, "you really shouldn't go swimming. Your body is battling some kind of virus whose symptom is a sore throat. Actually, you shouldn't do much of anything today; resting is the best way to fend off a sickness."

"What?" Mikey cried, forgetting his raw throat. Instantly, he realized his mistake and made a painful grimace.

"How'd he get sick, anyway?" Leo asked Don.

"Well, I don't kn—"Don stopped himself and looked to Mikey. "Wait a sec. Didn't you swallow the river water?"

Raph answered for his brother. "Yeah, he did say he swallowed a lot. Enough ta make him cough, actually." He realized his brother's deduction and turned to Don. "Ya think it's from the river?"

"Most likely," Don answered. "I guess that's settled then. But what should Mikey do? He can't just go swimming with us." Mikey made a sad puppy-dog face at his brother.

"Well we can't just leave him here," Leo said. "Let's all walk to the waterfall and let Mikey rest there." Mikey smiled at Leo and nodded vigorously.

"Fine," Don said. He pointed to Mikey. "But no talking, capiche? You don't want to irritate your swollen throat any further." Mikey nodded sullenly at the order.

"Mikey can't talk no more? This must be my lucky day…" Raph stared dreamily to the sky, avoiding the glare from Mikey.

The four turtles slowly made their way to the waterfall, allowing Mikey time to rest. Don, Leo, and Raph kept a close eye on their youngest brother. It took about thirty minutes to reach the waterfall from Mikey's slow pace, and the older brothers couldn't help but notice Mikey's heavy breathing by the end of the hike. But for a moment, all was forgotten as the four brothers stood in awe at the sight of a large waterfall that flowed beautifully into the river beside them.

"Beautiful," Don breathed. Mikey nodded in agreement.

Raph flew past his gaping brothers to make a cannon ball into the pool of the waterfall. "Whoa! It's pretty cold," he announced.

Leo jumped in next to him. "You'll get used to it," he said once he surfaced.

"Says the oh-so-disciplined teacher's pet," Raph jeered, splashing Leo.

"Hey!" Leo shouted, splashing Raph back.

Don and Mikey smiled at their older brother's water fight. After getting something from his bag, Don walked Mikey over to a spot under the shade of a big tree. He then gave Mikey a large water bottle. "I want you to drink this," he said. At Mikey's disagreeing pout, he added, "All of it please." Mikey silently took the water and watched as Don jumped into the cold waterfall. For a several hours, Don, Raph, and Leo relaxed in the waterfall's pool, every so often checking in on Mikey. At lunch, Don was able to persuade MIkey to have some cut-up apple and half a sandwich while the others ate their food. Finally, after an hour more of swimming, the three brothers decided it was time to head back to camp. They got out of the water, dried off, and walked over to where they left Mikey.

"Hey Mikey!" Raph called. "We're goin' back, so—" he stopped as soon as he realized that Mikey was asleep against the tree.

"Guess he nodded off," said Leo, squatting next to the sleeping turtle. "Mikey wake up," he said, shaking his brother's shoulder. Mikey grunted, rubbing his eyes, and sat up. "Hmm…he seems a bit warm to me," Leo murmured, still touching Mikey's shoulder.

"Warm?" asked Don worriedly, putting a hand to Mikey's forehead. "Tch, I was hoping this wouldn't happen. Mikey, you have a slight fever." At the news, Mikey seemed frightened. "You'll be fine, Mikey," Don said in reassurance, "but you're just gonna have to lay low the rest of the day." He quickly dug through his bag and handed Mikey two Advil pills. Mikey painfully swallowed them with the water from his bottle. Happy that Mikey obeyed, Don stood up and said, "Tomorrow, we'll go back to the farmhouse and get you some better medicine for your throat."

"I guess that cuts off our camping trip," Leo sighed.

"Sorry," whispered Mikey pitifully.

"Stop that," Raph cut in. "It ain't yer fault so don't feel sorry for yerself."

"We should head back," Don said. "Who wants to do the honors?"

"I'll take 'im," said Raph.

"It's okay Raph, I'll do it," Leo stated.

"I can do it," Raph countered angrily.

"I could do it," Mikey whispered helpfully.

"NO!" Raph, Leo, and Don cried at once. "And stop talking," Don added. Mikey smiled innocently.

"We can switch off then. You carry him first," Leo offered.

"Fine," Raph agreed. He knelt in front of Mikey and hoisted him on to his shell with the help of Leo and Don. The walk back was awkwardly silent, save for the short conversation when Raph and Leo switched Mikey on their shells. In this silence, it didn't take long for Mikey to fall asleep again and his head rested against Leo's shoulder the rest of the way back.

"I guess fighting the fever is taking a lot out of him," Don said as he and his brothers gently placed the sound asleep Mikey in his sleeping bag at the campsite. "But I'm sure he'll bounce back like always."

"Yeah," muttered Leo. "Just like always."


	2. Chapter 2

Mwhaha…another chapter completed! Thanks to all of you who reviewed, and I am happy to continue the story. Don't forget to tell me what you think at this next installment! And the story continues…

Leo sighed at the sight of a feverish Mikey. "Well," he mumbled to himself, "can't just sit around all day." He turned to Raph. "Wanna practice some katas?" he asked.

Raph looked up from his sleeping brother and shrugged. "Ah, why not. Shell Leo, I thought we're s'possed ta be relaxin'."

"But katas are relaxing," Leo playfully argued. Raph gave Leo a doubtful smile. "Somewhat relaxing?" Leo tried. Raph shook his head and got into position with his older brother. Together, they performed the katas with ease. Don went back to writing some notes in his journal as his brothers busied themselves.

By dinnertime, darkness had already begun to set in. After Raph and Leo went to fetch wood for the campfire, Don started it with Raph's matches. Don decided to wake Mikey to eat with the others. "Mikey, it's time to eat dinner," he said as soon as his younger brother was awake. "You hungry?" he asked. Mikey gave an excited smile and nodded. "Really?" Don said, relieved. "That's great. Maybe all that resting helped." Don gave a pleased smile to Raph and Leo, who smiled back. The four brothers gathered around the campfire for the second time in their trip and ate dinner together. Don, Leo, and Raph watched happily as Mikey was able to eat his whole sandwich and some crackers.

"Ya know, I thought this trip would be lame, but it might be one a' the best so far," said Raph as he added another wood branch to the fire. "I mean it's so peaceful without Mikey complaining and—"

"—Raph, you don't mean that, do you?" Don interrupted with a thoughtful smirk. "Poor Mikey…" At the sympathetic comment, Mikey swatted his hand in the air as if to say it was no big deal. He wore a mischievous grin that expressed he could get Raph back any time.

"So—" Mikey started but clapped a hand over his mouth, remembering not to speak. He began acting out what he wanted to say. Unfortunately for him, his brothers could not understand even one motion of their younger brother. His failed attempts had his brothers cracking up, and eventually the scene turned into a highly competitive game of charades between the four brothers. And by the end of the game, the tallying of points was forgotten as all four turtles enjoyed their own company and humor.

The fire was finally put out when it was time for bed. But after the turtles just got in their sleeping bags, Mikey complained that he was cold. Don decided that they should all set up their sleeping bags next to each other to keep the youngest warm during the night. After persuading a resistant Raph, all four turtles pulled together their sleeping bags and slept in a tight row. The eventful day had ended on a happy note, and for that the four brothers were grateful.

But the tranquil night was broken by the sound of a sickly turtle. Leo, the ever-light sleeper of the group, was awakened in the middle of the night by a faint rattling noise. Fully awake, he sat straight up and discovered the noise was coughing by none other than Mikey.

"Mikey?" he whispered, squinting his eyes to see through the darkness of the night. When the coughing continued, he got up from his position to crouch next to Mikey. As his eyes adjusted to the dark, Leo could see Mikey, struggling to get into a sitting position with one arm and using the other arm for cupping a hand over his mouth. Leo immediately tried to help his brother and held up his shell. To the side of him, he roughly shook Raph on the shoulder.

"W-Wah?" Raph mumbled as he sat up to face his older brother. "Mm…Leo? What the shell're you—"

"—It's Mikey," Leo hastily cut Raph off. "Wake up Don," he said as he turned back to coughing brother. He started to pat Mikey on the shell soothingly and to his relief, Mikey started to calm down, the coughs becoming further and further apart. But it wasn't until his moonlit shadow moved off Mikey did he notice the tears in the youngests' eyes.

At the sight, the now awake Don yelled from behind Leo, "Mikey! What's wrong?"

"He was coughing just up until a second ago," Leo explained.

"That's not good," Don said as he and Raph dropped down next to Mikey. They exchanged worried faces as Mikey started to whimper.

"Donnie," Mikey whispered pitifully, clutching his throat, "i-it hurts so bad." He looked up at his brothers with teary, blue eyes.

"Yeah, I know," Don said sympathetically, rubbing the back of Mikey's shell. "Coughing will definitely irritate your throat more." Don got up and rummaged through his bag. He pulled out a water bottle and came back to Mikey, holding it out. "If you drink some water you'll feel better."

"No," Mikey whispered, weakly pushing the bottle away.

"Ya lame-brain, if Donnie says it'll make ya feel betta', do it!" Raph said heatedly, hoping to persuade Mikey. Hesitantly, Mikey grabbed the bottle and took a small sip. As soon as he swallowed he cringed, hot tears spilling on his face.

"Come on bro, drink some more," Leo urged. Mikey just sat there miserably. Desperate, Leo seized the water bottle and tipped it into Mikey's mouth.

As Leo did this, Raph moved to support Mikey's head. "Whoa! Shell Donnie, he's burnin' up again!" he said at touch Mikey's neck.

Don clenched his teeth. "Damn."

"He was doin' fine at dinner," Raph muttered.

"Yeah, but that was only from the Advil," Don replied. "After it wore off, his fever must have shot up again." He frowned and rubbed the back of his head. "I hoped he'd be fine after a little rest, but this isn't just your regular cold. I should've known."

"Do you have any more Advil, Don?" Leo asked, turning away from Mikey.

"No, all I had was the two pills. I didn't know we'd be battling an illness out here," Don answered solemnly.

"Neither did we," Leo said.

Suddenly, Mikey started to cough again, and his three brothers went back to soothing him. "I'm tired…" Mikey mumbled after the pain subsided. And then, a minute later, he fell asleep.

Leo, Don, and Raph looked at each other and then at the sleeping brother in their arms. Though Mikey was asleep, they were still at a loss; Mikey could easily wake up again, and they needed to keep a close eye on his rising fever. They decided to take turns keeping watch the rest of the night. Leo had the first shift, Raph took the second, and Don had the third. Luckily, Mikey had a mostly peaceful sleep for the rest of the night. However from Don's morning diagnosis, his fever hadn't gone down, which was bad sign. The three older brothers hoped that Mikey's health wouldn't deteriorate any further on the long trek home.

"I've contacted April," Don told his brothers. "Casey went out to get some medicine for Mikey. They'll be expecting us at the farmhouse."

"Did you talk with Master Splinter?" Leo asked.

"Very briefly. I told him about Mikey's situation," Don responded.

"He must be worried," Leo said, more to himself than to Don.

"Still with us, Mike?" Raph asked Mikey as he hoisted his brother up on his shell.

"Mhmm…" came the faint reply.

"Good, 'cause when we get home, I'm gonna have Don put ya on a diet. Ya weigh like you've eaten a ton 'o bricks," Raph teased.

"Oh *cough* yeah, well…you _feel_ li'e a ton 'a bricks," Mikey slurred back. Raph chuckled at the comment but fell silent as Mikey had another round of coughs. He shifted Mikey to a more comfortable position on his shell and started to walk along the river with Leo and Don. It wasn't long before Mikey couldn't hold his head up any longer and so he rested it against Raph's shoulder. Raph cursed under his breath at the touch of Mikey's cheek. His little brother was burning hot, and he could feel the blazing skin radiating heat on his exposed shoulder. Mikey's hot breath was coming out in pants and it took Raph every ounce of patience to keep himself from panicking at his brother's situation. He glanced at Leo and Don, who lead the way up the river. They seemed to be chatting about something, though Raph couldn't care less about what it was; he was just glad that they didn't have to deal with seeing Mikey suffer.

After about an hour into the journey, Leo decided it was time to take a break. He and Don watched as Raph gently lowered Mikey down. To the turtles' dismay, Mikey had trouble holding a sitting position, so Leo let Mikey's head rest in his lap. Don had Mikey drink more water and this time Mikey didn't have enough energy to resist.

"I hate being sick…" Mikey croaked in a horse whisper. He tilted his head up slowly to see Leo's face.

"Don't worry," Leo comforted. He placed his hand on Mikey's head and softly brushed his thumb against his hot skin affectionately. "Everything's gonna be okay. You'll get better, I promise."

"Mmm," Mikey responded half-heartedly. After a few moments of silence, his face suddenly pulled into a grimace and Mikey uncomfortably tried to shift his position. Still unsatisfied, he let out a whimper.

Leo noticed this and concernedly asked, "What's wrong?"

"Feel…weird…" Mikey whispered.

Leo motioned for Don to come over. "Could you be more specific?" Leo asked.

"Feel…like everything's spinning," Mikey replied weakly.

"Do you feel light-headed?" Don asked nervously. Mikey nodded. "Nauseous?" Mikey shook his head no.

"I-I wanna get up," Mikey mumbled, starting to struggle out of Leo's hold.

"Whoa, wait Mikey!" Don put a steadying hand on his younger brother's shell. "I got you bro, so don't strain yourself too much." Don and Leo carefully assisted their brother, each of them grabbing under Mikey's arms.

Curious at the scene, Raph came over and asked, "What's happening here?"

"Mikey was feeling dizzy and wanted to get up," Don explained tentatively. "Though I don't know why."

Still slumped against his two brothers, Mikey raised his head in Raph's direction.

"Mikey?" said Raph. But he realized that his younger brother was not looking at him; it was like Mikey was looking _through_ him. Suddenly, Mikey's eyes widened and he backed out of Leo's and Don's grasp. Without his brothers' support, he instantly fell backwards onto the hard ground with a cry.

"Mikey! What were ya thinkin'?" Raph said worriedly as Leo and Don hurried to sit Mikey up. Mikey muttered something softly, his eyes now drawn together in a frightened expression.

"What? What is it?" Don asked, leaning closer to Mikey's face. He could feel his brother's hot breath on his cheek.

"I see it…a wolf…" Mikey whispers.

"You-you see a wolf?" Don asked doubtfully as Mikey nodded. The three brothers followed Mikey's line of sight.

"Uh, hit yer head there pretty hard, didn't ya, Mikey?" Raph said. "There's nothin' there."

"No," said Leo, his voice cold and calculating. "There is. I can feel a presence in the air. Something's—"

"Leo, don't tell me ya think it's that mystical plane stuff," Raph frowned. "I don't believe in any 'a that."

"But Raph, what about the time Shredder's 'mystics' pulled us into that illusion? You had to believe in it then because we had to defeat them," Don encouraged. "Besides...I sense something too."

"Guys, quiet," Leo hushed. "Where is it, Mikey?"

The youngest brother said nothing but pointed straight ahead. "You can't see it?" Mikey rasped.

"Not yet," answered Leo. "But if we focus—" he closed his eyes, "—maybe we can." Don and Raph sat next to Leo closed their eyes as well. A full minute passed before the brothers opened their eyes again, and about fifty feet in front of them stood a wolf with its back to the turtles.

"Mikey was right!" Don cried.

"Yeah," said a dumbfounded Raph, "but how did ya see it in the first place?" He looked down at Mikey with a questioning stare, but the youngest shrugged weakly.

"It probably has to do with his fever," Leo explained. "Since he's physically weak, his mental powers are stronger." Raph raised an eye ridge at Leo's comment. "Don't ask how I know." Leo smiled sheepishly at Raph's expression.

"Well, we all see it now," said Don. "What are we going to do? It's not an ordinary wolf because it exists spiritually."

"Let's talk to it and see what happens," Leo suggested. He got up and walked cautiously to the wolf, noticing that the dark gray wolf's back was littered with scars. "Um, hello?" Leo voiced when he was about ten feet away. "Are you a spirit?" Instantly the wolf spun into a defensive stance, as if it had not sensed Leo before he had spoken, and gave a low growl. "Whoa, there. I don't want to hurt you, just want to talk," Leo backed away holding up his hands innocently. He cast a fleeting glance to Raph and Don in the distance, and saw them tense up, ready for anything. Leo spoke again. "Can you understand—"

"—What are you ugly beings doing in our sacred forest?" the wolf suddenly asked. Leo was taken aback by the wolf's low, cruel voice. "Trespassers are to be slain," snapped the wolf, edging closer to Leo.

"We mean you no harm." Leo mimicked the harsh voice of the wolf. "We plan to leave the forest, nothing more," he argued.

The wolf bared a wicked smile, showing his sharp teeth and cackled. "It seems you filth do not know the order of this forest." At the spiteful comment, Leo slowly pulled his swords out with a fierce glare. He backed up as Raph came forward while Don put himself defensively in front of Mikey.

The evil cackling of the wolf turned into a vicious howl. The grating noise stopped as soon as it came, and the four turtles were drowned in a fearful silence.

It seemed as if even time stood still.

Leo and Raph narrowed their eyes as Don gripped his Bo staff tighter, waiting, watching. The wolf in front of them showed no sign of movement.

Suddenly, a faint, hoarse voice was heard in the stillness. "They're coming…"

Leo, Raph and Don whipped their heads to the youngest brother. And not a second later, a large pack of wolves darted out from the darkness of the surrounding forest and encircled the turtles. A rumble of deep growls could be heard from the wolves' throats, a few snaps heard from their jaws, a sinister shine showed from their eyes, and the spit dripping from their mouths showed a ruthless hunger…

And at this terrifying threat, only one word could be verbalized from the turtle's fear-muddled minds: "Shell."


	3. Chapter 3

Alrighty, here's the next chapter! I hope you like it, and please tell me if you do! By the way, if you're confused by any part of my story…well, I did the best I could, and I'm sure you'll get it eventually. Just think like Mikey and everything will be okay. I hope. Aaaaaand it continues…

"Leo, we gotta do somethin'!" Raph shouted over the chorus of growls.

"I know!" Leo yelled back to his brother.

But before Leo could do anything, the dark gray wolf howled, "Wolf army! Attack!" and he wolves jumped up and started to strike the turtles all at once. At first, the wolves seemed to overpower the turtles; they were unlike any enemy they had faced before. The wolves' attacks were unpredictable and ferocious, and their inhuman speed deadly. Soon Raph, Don, and Leo had received some nasty bites and scratches. But the real problem was not with fighting the wolves—it was protecting Mikey. The three fighting brothers desperately tried to stay in front of their grounded brother at all times, but the wolves were too uncontrollable. They couldn't stand in one spot for long. But the turtles would not let anything happen to Mikey and aggressively held back the wolves despite their disadvantage. And before long, the turtles had managed to diminish the wolf army to a point where the battle became a standstill. There were still a good amount of wolves left, but they were weary of attacking the turtles for fear that they too would be defeated like their comrades.

Leo was about to deliver another strike when the circle of wolves suddenly parted, revealing a large black wolf walking towards the turtles. "Silence!" the smaller dark gray wolf said to those in the circle, still glaring at the four turtles. And instantly, their threats ceased.

Gathering up his courage, Leo took a step toward the black wolf. "Look, we didn't want to fight," he said loudly, almost confidently. "We just want to leave—"

"—Leave?" the black wolf laughed cruelly, "Do not talk nonsense to _me, _you senseless creature. For the very moment you entered our astral domain, your fate was decided."

"Look, pal," Raph fumed, "we came in to ya stinkin' place on our own, and we'll leave the same way."

The dark gray wolf from before snarled menacingly and Raph flinched. "You will address our leader as King, you ungrateful trash," he growled.

"Stand down Dagger," the large wolf, now known as King, said. "It seems you beings are even more brainless than I thought." He looked dissatisfied. "You did not enter our celestial home through your own insignificant power. You came to our realm after crossing our spiritual boundary, or as you mortals perceived it, after entering the clearing."

The turtles' mouths stood open from shock. "But…that was yesterday when…" Leo trailed off.

Suddenly, the dark gray wolf came up to King. "You knew of their presence before?" Dagger bristled. "Why did you not tell me, King? If I had known, I would not have been caught off guard by such measly pests. My army could have ambushed them!" he shouted desperately to King.

King smiled evilly at Dagger. "But it wouldn't have been as entertaining," he answered bluntly.

Dagger gave a wide-eyed stare. "My army is not yours to sacrifice, King. I have lost many comrades—"

"—you still go on about these comrades of yours?" King sneered at Dagger. "When will you learn that as leader, the disgraceful must sacrifice themselves to me? There are no comrades here in our world; only the dead and the strong."

"Wait!" Don interrupted the intense conversation. "How could this make sense!" he cried. "How were we unaware of switching dimensions back then? And why didn't we see you until we focused on the mystic world?"

"So many questions for one so _pathetic_," King derided as he turned his attention to Don. "We are not in a separate dimension, you fool. As a living being, entering the spiritual boundary only gives the power to perceive our presence. It seems you must possess stronger mystic capabilities than most creatures of your planet, which allows you to see our bodily forms when attentive to the mystic world. But you still physically exist on your wretched mortal world." At that comment, King smiled wickedly. "Well, not for much longer, that its."

"Indeed," Dagger agreed, somewhat calmer from the heated argument earlier. "We wolves are spirits of this scared forest; as gods, all who show disgrace to us must perish by our hand."

"Okay, does anyone's brain hurt?" Raph asked. "I'm startin' ta get how Mikey feels…" Raph looked down at Mikey, who smiled weakly back.

"I still don't understand," Leo said to Dagger, ignoring Raph's comment. "How have we disgraced you?"

"Because—" Dagger stopped, at a loss for words. "It-it is the order of things," he reasoned weakly.

"The reason matters little," said King. He looked to Dagger and his remaining army and motioned to the turtles. "Kill them." At the command, a circle of wolves was formed once more, this time joined by Dagger.

The turtles got into a defensive position, surrounding Mikey again. "Man, this would be so much easier if Mikey hadn't swallowed that nasty river water!" Raph grumbled. Mikey couldn't help but look down with guilt. Raph immediately realized his mistake and looked back at Mikey. "But it's…ah, not _your_ fault, Mikey…I—"

"—Guys, no more dwelling on the past, especially if we want to have a future!" interjected Don as the wolves circled closer.

"Wait!" holwed King suddenly. The circling wolves looked to Dagger, who nodded, and stopped. King pointed to Mikey with his paw. "He drank the sacred water…and still _lives_!" King said in disbelief. His eyes narrowed and he looked to Leo. "Give him to me, creature. We have lost too many of our kind to that damn river…it is only thing in this forest that dares to resist me." He glared darkly. "Perhaps if we fed your brother's blood to wolves—"

"—Oh no you WON'T!" Raph exploded, raising his sai. "Yer seriously deranged if you think that ya can jus' take our little brother and…" he cut himself off, not wanting to voice what came next.

Unimpressed, King turned to Dagger and said, "Retrieve the strange creature I want—and I expect there to be no failure this time. I will be waiting at the wolf grounds." The turtles watched in silent anger as King walked off into the deep forest.

Dagger broke the silence. "Let us strike a deal, trash. Give me your…so-called brother, and I will let the rest of you leave with you lives. I tire of this fight."

"Never," Leo said in a cold, even tone.

Dagger scowled. "Are you mad?" he roared. "You fight to protect a useless weakling?"

"Hey, Mikey's not weak or useless!" Raph shouted.

"Don't argue with him Raph," said Leo, his eyes still fixated on Dagger. "Just focus on winning this fight."

"Fine then," said Dagger. And without warning, he and the rest of the wolves attacked the turtles once more. As the Don and Raph guarded Mikey from the wolf army's attacks, Dagger pursued Leo ferociously. It was an intense battle, but something felt off to Leo; he sensed that Dagger wasn't attacking with a full force and seemed distracted. But before Leo could take advantage of this, Dagger spoke, "You creatures vex me terribly—" he just barely escaped Leo swords on a downswing, and continued, "—how can you protect that weakened one?"

At the mention of Mikey and his upsetting situation, Leo made a loud cry and managed to nick Dagger's shoulder with his sword. "Because he's our brother!" Leo yelled.

Dagger hissed at his injury but continued his argument. "I have seen—" he jumped high to evade another attack "—many creatures of this world, both human and animal, but none have persisted to protect others at expense of their own life—" he twisted away from Leo's sword when it caught his leg, "—when against our army."

Leo stopped at the depressing comment, as did Dagger who waited for an answer. "Our bond is stronger than that," he said vaguely. He remembered something he had told Mikey a while ago and added, "In this life, we only have each other; if one of us goes down, we all go down."

Dagger snarled, still unconvinced. "But what have you to _gain_ from this bond?" he barked. "In our clan, King says that only the strong are to survive, and that has allowed us to be prosperous and—" he cut himself off with a confused grimace.

Leo, surprised at Dagger's reaction, stared at the wolf apprehensively. "Do you really believe in what King says?" he asked in a low, serious tone. "Your clan may be prosperous, but…" Leo paused, coming to a realization, "…you're not happy, are you?"

Dagger's eyes grew wide at Leo's statement and he backed away as if afraid. He shook his head. "No…" he said in a rough whisper. "I…we…" Leo lowered his swords and started to walk towards the distraught wolf. But Dagger suddenly attacked Leo with a newfound ferocity, shouting, "You lie! It is not so!" Unfortunately, Leo couldn't react in time to block the unexpected attack and was roughly thrust to the ground a few feet away. He cried out at the heavy impact and immediately lost consciousness.

"Leo, no!" came a gravelly shout from the distance. Mikey was charging at Dagger, nun chucks poised above his head. Wheezing, he got in front of Leo and attempted to strike Dagger, who dodged easily. He started to cough harshly from his loud yell, but still held his position.

"You..." Dagger growled. But before he could attack, Mikey fainted, his limp body dropping next to Leo's.

For a moment, Dagger froze from surprise, but was jolted awake from Raph's furious battle cry. Instinct took over and Dagger sprang up in a flash at his new attacker.

"Ahhh!" came a pained yell from Raph as Dagger's sharp teeth savagely clamped down on his arm. "Get offa me you stupid wolf, or I'll cut off yer whole jaw!" he shouted as he desperately tried to wrench Dagger off his arm.

"Hold on, Raph!" screamed Don as he finished off the last of the wolf army. He sprinted over to Raph and swung his Bo staff at Dagger, but the wolf was too quick. Dagger viciously released Raph's arm, letting a spray of blood cover Don's face, and clashed against both brothers. Don lost his balance and he fell to his knees, wiping a hand over his eyes. "I can't see!" he cried. "Raph, I-I can't see!"

Raph got up shakily, holding his bleeding arm in pain. "I'm right here Donnie, just don't—" he was cut off by another brutal attack from Dagger. He crumpled to the ground, also out cold.

"R-Raph?" Don wailed. A sound came from the left of him and he thrust his Bo in blind defense toward the direction, which successfully connected with Dagger's exposed flank. His powerful attack managed to fend off Dagger for a few moments, but the wolf launched himself at Don once he recovered. Don's Bo failed to hit a second time, and he too fell to the ground from a nasty blow to the chest.

Dagger stood above the pile of turtles, breathing hard. His legs gave out and he collapsed to the ground, his eyes still fixated on his enemies. He let out a long howl and waited a few minutes until a small group of wolves showed up. Dagger stood up to greet them and said, "Comrades, we must take the orange-banded creature to the wolf grounds."

The wolves complied and dragged Mikey out of the pile. Most of them left with Mikey, but a few stayed behind, warily eyeing the three other turtles. "What shall we do with them, commander?" one wolf asked.

Dagger hesitated, remembering his conversation with Leo. "We will take the blue-banded one as well..." he wavered as his eyes darted to Don and Raph. His memory flashed the fight between them, their faces desperate, and their attacks almost fatal—all for the sake of their brothers. "…and leave the purple and red-banded ones to me. I will take care of them," he finished confidently.

After Dagger watched the last of the wolves go with Leo, he went to slowly drag Raph underneath a large tree and hid him by the tall shrubs that grew around it. He went back for Don and pulled the turtle's limp body beside his brother. Satisfied, he started to head back towards the wolf grounds. A small moan came from behind him and he whipped around, but the turtles were still unconscious, slumped over one another. He watched the two turtles with an unidentifiable stare—perhaps of anger, or perhaps of jealousy—then silently slipped into the dark forest.


	4. Chapter 4

Hello again! Sorry I haven't put up a new chapter for a bit—studying for tests and stuff got in the way. But anyways, hope you enjoy my story and please tell me what you think about it 'cause I'd like to know about other people's opinions besides my own! And the story must go on…

Leo slowly became aware of his surroundings as the groggy effects of sleep were just wearing off. The first thing he noticed was the distinct taste of blood in his mouth. Definitely a bad sign. He felt the cold, hard ground beneath him and realized he was in an awkward position, but different from the one he had fallen unconscious in, as if someone had dumped him on the ground and left him there. His senses returned like a wave washing over him, and suddenly he could hear voices above him. His breath hitched when he finally recognized the speaker. It was King! Every fiber of Leo's being wanted to instantly shoot up and take down his hated enemy right then and there, but he knew that the action could put himself or his brothers in danger. He couldn't risk that. He needed to know what situation he and his brothers were in before anything else, for the last thing he remembered was being knocked out by Dagger. His head was pounding mercilessly and his body ached all over, but he kept his eyes shut and breathing steady as he strained to listen to the conversation that droned above him.

"—did not fail you, King. I brought you the creature you asked for." Leo now identified the second voice as Dagger and grew worried. What had become of his brothers? Could Dagger have...? No. He didn't want to assume the worst just yet.

"Dagger, I asked for _this_ one only—"Leo could hear a small shuffling noise and guessed King had motioned to Mikey, which was an enormous relief to him, "—and yet you brought me _two_ of these ugly beings! You should have killed it when you had the chance!"

"No!" Dagger shouted, and Leo barely suppressed a flinch from the sudden loudness. "Eh, no…" Dagger voiced more quietly, embarrassed. "I brought this one to…to keep the other alive. The orange-banded one is weakened by something, and we do not want to drink tainted blood."

"Ah, why did you not just say so?" King replied with an amused tone. "Very well. Once the creature is uninfected, we will kill them both and drink to victory!" This time, it was King's loud yell that Leo fought to remain still by. He was furious, having decided that he would do anything to get Mikey away from these…monsters. And now that he realized what was happening, Leo's fury transformed into panic—if Raph and Don weren't here with Mikey, they either got away…or didn't. He desperately hoped that his brothers were okay.

And relatively speaking, they were. Unlike Leo however, their wakeup was far from quiet. As soon as Raph gained his senses and looked around, he shook Don wildly.

"Wah! Wh-what?" Don yelped as he bolted upright out of his slouched position on the ground. To his relief, he looked up to see Raph kneeling down next to him, with a hand still on his shoulder. But his relief instantly changed into a rising panic from Raph's touch. Don could feel his brother trembling.

"They're gone, Donnie!" Raph cried.

"What?" Don squeaked, his stomach twisting in knots with panic.

"Mike an' Leo, they…" Raph shut his eyes and shielded his face with his hand, "…they musta' been taken when we were out." Raph's loud cry had been reduced to a hushed whisper.

Raph stood up as Don looked around franticly to see for himself. There was no sign of their brothers. "No..." he said as the realization sunk in. He struggled to get a hold of the situation. "But why are we still…_alive_?" Don asked disturbingly. "I thought Dagger was ordered to kill us."

"It doesn't matter!" Raph yelled furiously. "They took our brothers, Donnie!" He punched the tree beside him, hoping to ease his growing rage.

"We can still go after them!" Don countered angrily.

"Yeah? And how're we s'possed ta do that, huh?" Raph punched the tree again and a pained grunt escaped his lips.

Don huffed, trying to keep his voice under control. "Well if you stop kicking yourself in the shell, maybe we can formulate a plan to rescue—"

"—They could'a _killed_ 'em fer all we know!" Raph exploded and made a move to punch the tree again with a loud roar.

"NO!" shouted Don. He grabbed Raph's wrist and pulled his brother away from the tree with such unexpected force that Raph stumbled backwards and fell to the ground.

"Donnie, what the shell!" Raph raged at Don. He started to get up but Don wrestled him back down. Raph was about to heave Don off with a solid kick to the chest when caught sight of his brother's grave expression and stopped.

Don noticed Raph's stillness and let go. But his still kept his position and his intense stare directed down at Raph. "Now you listen to me," Don hissed in a low voice. "It _does_ matter that we are alive because we _will_ find our brothers, no matter what it takes. They won't be abandoned, whether dead or alive." Raph growled and averted his eyes. Don relaxed a little, knowing his brother had understood him. "Look at me," he voiced in a calmer tone.

"I get it Don," Raph said, his eyes still stuck on the ground beside him. "We'll go and—"

"—I said look at me, Raphie," Don said softly, comfortingly. Raph's eyes slowly left the ground and fixated on Don's face that had pulled into a sad smile. "We'll be together in this okay? So please, no more hurting yourself."

"Yeah, I know," Raph responded in a gentle voice that matched Don's. He sighed and cracked his neck. "Ugh. Remind me to never get on ya bad side." Don faintly chuckled and offered a hand for Raph to get back up on his feet. "So ya got a plan, genius?" Raph asked.

"Well, sort of." Don answered. "It would be a waste to look for our brothers in this huge forest by ourselves. Which means we'll need to…persuade a volunteer to lead us to the 'wolf grounds' that King was talking about."

"Oh, I can help in that department." Raph grinned evilly and cracked his knuckles.

"I thought you might," Don said with a knowing smirk.

"How we gonna locate one'a these wolves, though?" asked Raph.

"Simple," said Don confidently. "Remember when we deliberately tuned our senses to the spiritual plane, we could see Dagger?"

"Yeah…" Raph answered uncertainly.

"And also when King said that entering the spiritual boundary meant we could sense their presence?"

"Uhhh…." Raph gave a stupefied expression.

"Well, if my hunch is correct, we should be able to detect the wolves' spiritual pressure by meditation alone. If we focus, that is." Don looked hopefully at Raph who had pulled his face into a scowl.

"Great," Raph muttered. "More meditation."

"It's the only idea I've got," Don stated as he sat down. Raph dropped noisily beside him. "Just remember Raph, we're looking for a wolf _alone_. We don't want to get ourselves caught in another big fight." Don and Raph closed their eyes.

After a moment however, the silence was broken by a whisper. "Raph?"

"Hmm?" Raph responded, opening one eye.

"D'you think Leo and Mikey are…you know…" Don trailed off.

Raph sighed and turned to look at Don. "Nah. Forget what I said earlia'. Leo's too stubborn an' Mikey's too stupid to be pushin' daisies early, if ya know what I mean."

Don smiled silently. "Yeah…you're right."

"Of course I am," Raph replied. "So we gonna do this thing or what?"

"Alright, sheesh." Don let his mind wander and tried to grasp that same feeling he had experienced before. Immediately, he sensed Raph's presence and merged his own energy with his brother's, hoping it would strengthen their mystic power. Suddenly, the turtles' vision went blurry as their minds were whisked at an unimaginable speed through the forest. The search was dizzying to a point where the turtles felt nauseous, but they still held their positions, desperately waiting for a sign.

And just as they were on the verge of passing out, a familiar electric sensation caught Don's attention, and he pinpointed the source. Suddenly, he felt his whole body shaking uncontrollably, as if it was moved by some outside force…then he remembered—Raph! At the realization that his brother was responsible for the action, Don snapped awake, breathing heavily. He caught his breath and looked up into Raph's piercing stare with a wide, tired smile. "I…we…we found one."

Raph's stare instantly relaxed at Don's happiness, but a frown still remained on his face. He helped Don up to his feet and said, "Then let's go."

Don nodded to his brother. The turtles made their way through the thick forest, running at a fast pace. After a few minutes in silence, Don turned to Raph. "Did you see—er feel it?" he asked vaguely, knowing Raph would understand what he meant.

"Yeah. It kinda felt sharp an'…uh…" Raph trailed off, unable to express his experience.

"Like a bolt…or electricity…" Don struggled to voice the feeling as well, "…but more intense like—"

"—lightning," Raph interjected.

Don nodded vigorously, agreeing with his brother's insight. "I can still feel it now."

Raph chuckled. "Well good, 'cause we're gonna need that ta find us a nice wolf ta figh—uh, persuade."

"I just hope we'll get there in time," Don said. He sighed loudly and shook his head. "No, I'm sure we'll get there—we _have_ to," he said decisively.

Raph grunted in approval of Don's comment. "Man, those guys will so owe us fer this," he said, trying to lighten the situation. "I bet Leo's gonna freak when he hears that he's not the only turtle with awesome mystic powers and stuff," Raph declared triumphantly.

"I wonder what Leo's doing right now?" Don asked disconnectedly, oblivious to Raph's upbeat attitude.

"Jeez Don, stop worrying! They'll be fine," Raph said desperately. He couldn't help but feel useless in uplifting his troubled brother. How did Mikey do it so well? He hoped the little cheeseball and fearless-what's-his-face were doing as fine as he said they were.

Lost in thought, Raph didn't notice that Don had stopped abruptly ahead and halted just in time before he crashed into his brother. Raph was startled by the sudden change but didn't question it; he could feel a lone wolf's presence, and he knew it was near. He looked into the distance, following Don's line-of-sight. A few trees away stood a brownish gray wolf that appeared to be dozing off.

"Okay," whispered Don, not taking his eyes off the wolf, "this is a delicate situation here. We don't want—"

"Raaaaaah!" With a fierce battle cry Raph cut off Don and raced to the wolf.

Don begrudgingly ran behind his brother. "Why do I even bother?"


	5. Chapter 5

Okay, I am really sorry I haven't put up a new chapter in a while, but I'm sure you'll forgive me after reading this next chapter—which took me a long time to write, by the way. Anywho, I hope you like it. Raph and Don's POV aren't in this chapter but I assure you they'll make a comeback in the next one, which _will _be written much faster this time. Oh yeah, and review 'cause all it does is make me wanna write more, which is probably good for those enjoying my stories. Without further ado, the story continues…

Back at the wolf grounds, Leo had been forcefully "woken up" by the wolf guards and was told that King had given the order for Leo to see him. He was pushed roughly by the snout of one of the wolves to point him in the right direction. And despite Leo's aching muscles and head, he did not budge. Instead, he walked stiffly to where Mikey lay in a crumpled position that he had woken up from not so long ago. He reached out to his brother intending to feel for a temperature, but was pulled back by the teeth of none other than Dagger.

"King is this way," Dagger jerked his head backwards, letting go of Leo's arm. "You will heed his orders or die. Your choice." Dagger gave a pleading stare, and it was so unlike what Leo had seen during his previous fight with the wolf that he hesitated.

"I can't leave him," Leo said, looking away from Dagger to Mikey.

Dagger warily eyed Mikey and then silently turned his back on Leo. "Then take him and follow me," he said.

Leo shook Mikey gently, murmuring his name, and the sleeping turtle let out a soft groan but showed no other response. Leo sighed disappointedly and hoisted Mikey on his shell. He stumbled a bit from the weight on his aching joints but soon steadied himself, and after locating Dagger he slowly set off with Mikey. As Leo blindly followed after Dagger through the dense forest, his troubled mind took over in the silence. He couldn't help but panic over his missing brothers and agonize over possible escape scenarios that would get him and Mikey out of this hopeless situation. And Mikey—he could feel the burning fever coming from the youngest brother and Leo guessed that Mikey had probably become even sicker from this whole ordeal. Leo tightened his grip on Mikey, hoping to get a grip on reality because his mind was spinning out of control with doubts and fears, his bottled up emotions were threatening to—

Leo's thoughts were broken as an impatient growl came from the distance, and Leo looked up to see the dark gray wolf waiting impatiently up ahead. Leo quickened his pace, glancing back to see Mikey's face. Leo noticed a faint reddish color on his brother's cheeks, and heaved a sigh. If Mikey's pained expression wasn't enough, it was that his brother looked so sickly and weak that made Leo worry even more.

Finally, Leo and Dagger approached a clearing. Dagger walked to where King proudly sat—in what seemed to be a large chair made of animal bones—and bowed deeply. "I have brought the blue-banded turtle, my leader."

King huffed, unsatisfied. "And it seems that he has brought the weak one as well," he said with a disdainful tone. "No wonder you took so damn long."

"Where are my brothers?" Leo shouted suddenly.

"It does not matter. They are dead," King responded impassively.

Leo froze. He couldn't accept it; he _knew_ they couldn't be dead. They had all been falsely assured by enemies too many times to take those words seriously. And yet, he could just feel his anxiety increase, his heart beat ever so faster at the words.

"A-and my katanas?" Leo stuttered, desperately trying to keep his composure.

King sneered. "They were disposed of, like your worthless brothers."

Leo clenched his teeth until his jaw hurt, and was so close to running toward King in blind rage, but remembered that he was carrying Mikey on his shoulders. All he could do was seethe in silent anger.

King laughed evilly at the sight. "Pathetic creature. You know, the only reason why you're still alive is to purify the blood of that stupid creature," he pointed to Mikey. "So perhaps you should pay some respects. Bow to me," boomed King.

Leo stood still. "No."

"I SAID BOW TO ME, OR I WIL KILL YOU BOTH!" King screamed. Leo flinched and slowly, furiously, knelt on the ground, careful that Mikey stayed on his back. "You have three days to live, and in that time, I want my creature's blood to be uncontaminated," King said to Leo.

"He's not _yours_," Leo hissed angrily.

"Your life and that creature's life is mine," King cackled at the statement. "When the blood is ready to feast upon, you die. If you resist me, you die." King then motioned to a group of wolves that had gathered in the clearing. "Or if you like, you can die right here."

"I'll take the three days," Leo snarled, his voice livid from humiliation and anger.

King turned to Dagger with a triumphant smile. "See to it that these _insects_ are taken back to the wolf grounds," King said. "And keep them under watch; I don't want my precious blood to escape."

"Yes, King," Dagger answered and started to head in the direction where he and Leo had just come from. Leo stood back up, shifted Mikey into a better position on his shell, and reluctantly followed the wolf into the forest once more.

At the wolf grounds, Leo carefully laid Mikey down before he collapsed onto the ground himself. His distress at his situation had exhausted him to the point where he could barely think. He couldn't do anything but worry at what King had said about his missing brothers, and the fact that he and Mikey had three days to live. He just felt so…helpless. Mikey was in bad condition to escape and he would not leave his brother alone, so trying to find his brothers at this point was out of the question. He let Mikey's head rest in his lap and then turned to Dagger, hoping he could get some answers.

"Hey," he said to get the wolf's attention. Dagger turned to Leo and grunted. "You were the last one I saw with my brothers. Are they…dead as King says?" Leo tried to keep the tremble out of his voice.

Dagger hesitated and looked around. A couple of wolves were sprawled about the clearing, but for the most part it was empty. Leo guessed it wouldn't be long before they all left, and he hoped that he could use that time to somehow escape without harming Mikey. But he needed to get some information first.

Dagger got closer to Leo and looked him fiercely in the eyes. "The red and purple-banded ones are alive." Dagger whispered.

Leo's eyes widened and he stifled a gasp. He said nothing for a moment, but he instantly returned to his senses and narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "How can I trust that you know?"

"My orders were to kill you and your two brothers…but I couldn't," Dagger paused for a moment and looked down at the ground. "I…I denied what you had said about our unhappiness under King's command; but I know it is true." Dagger looked uncertain. "I know not of what came over me, but I did not want to see you dead. I was a coward for convincing myself to believe in King's rule, and for convincing the army as well. And you helped me realize this."

From Dagger's tormented look, Leo could tell that the wolf was telling the truth. Leo breathed out, relieved that his brothers were alive. He could practically feel his shoulders getting lighter from one less thing to panic over. "Where are they?" Leo voiced quietly.

"I do not know," Dagger whispered back. "I hid them under a tree near our first encounter, but they must have woken by now. They could be anywhere."

"Looking for Mikey and me, that's for sure," Leo said. He put a hand on Dagger's shoulder. "You saved us. Thank you," Leo said with an appreciative smile.

Dagger looked uncomfortable at Leo's gratitude. "No. T'was but on a whim of mine. I do not deserve thanks for such a petty act."

"Petty or not, we still owe you our lives," Leo shrugged. "I bet it was your idea for me to help Mikey be 'purified' as King said, right? King's too, well, insensitive to think of something like that."

"Ah yes," Dagger said, shifting his eyes embarrassingly.

"I see," Leo sighed. "Well, as much as I hate to say it, all we can do is wait for Raph and Don to—dare I say it—come rescue us."

Dagger' s expression hardened. "Even if I am an ally, it will not be so easy to escape from King."

"I know," Leo replied. "But we're not going down without a fight."

"I had almost forgotten!" Dagger suddenly cried. "I have something that will help." Dagger rushed out of the clearing and into the trees.

A minute later, Dagger emerged from the forest out of breath with a bag in his mouth. But not just any bag—it was Leo's backpack! "This is yours, I presume," Dagger said, lowering the bag down next to Leo and Mikey.

"Yes! Thank you," exclaimed Leo. He peered inside. "My katanas! And Mikey's nunchucks, too." Leo looked confused. "I thought that King said—"

"—he says many things," interjected Dagger. "Many of those I now see are very untrue."

Leo gave a pitying look to Dagger but didn't say anything back. And after a moment of awkward silence, Mikey unexpectedly started to cough and Leo immediately tried to sit his brother up. "Mikey?" he said softly, hoping to get some response.

Mikey's eyes fluttered open as he tried to control his ragged breath. The feverish turtle struggled instinctively against his brother, but Leo held on firmly. Leo didn't like how weak his brother felt. "Shhh…" he said. "I'm here Mikey. It's Leo. Calm down, I'm here."

Mikey grunted and drowsily looked Leo. "What…what happened?" he whispered dazedly to his brother.

"It's a long story, Mikey," Leo sighed and looked at Dagger.

Mikey gave a tired smile. "I've *cough* got time," he murmured.

Leo couldn't help but smile back at his brother. "I guess you're right." Leo started to tell what he had experienced not too long ago. By the end of the report, Leo couldn't help but feel a bit worried by Mikey's lack of response. Well, he was probably only half-listening anyway. "So…now we're here," Leo finished.

"Hmm…" whispered Mikey as he eyed Dagger thoughtfully. "So Dagger isn't the bad guy?"

"It seems so," answered Leo. He gave a fleeting smile at Dagger before he looked back to Mikey.

"Funny, your attacks sure _seemed_ like they were meant to kill. But maybe I was just reading the wrong signs." Mikey gave his trademark smile at Dagger who looked away guiltily.

Leo chuckled. He was glad that even in a feverish state Mikey's humor was still intact. Leo had never been so glad to hear Mikey's comical complaints. "He's just joking Dagger, don't take offense," said Leo with an amused tone. "Right, Mikey?"

"Yeah I *cough*didn't mean it Mr. Big Bad Wolf. Honest."

"Mikey…" Leo warned.

Mikey closed his eyes with the goofy smile still on his face. "Raph and Don better hurry. I hope they're okay."

"I'm sure they're on their way," Leo said gently to Mikey. Suddenly, Leo fell silent as the last of the wolves in the clearing finally got up and left. The sun was about to finish its descent, and Leo could just make it out through the forest trees. He swiveled his head toward Dagger. "This may be a silly question, but do you have any blankets?" Leo asked.

"Blankets…hmm…there may be one in the keeper's pile." Dagger stared into the distance.

"The keeper's pile?" Leo repeated curiously.

"Yes, it is where we keep all found items from the forest, left behind by the humans. Though, once in a while we keep all of a human's belongings if we kill them," Dagger said bluntly. "For instance, your bag would have been put there if I hadn't taken it."

Leo felt a little unnerved by Dagger's explanation, but decided against asking more about the subject. "If you could find a blanket or two, that would be great," Leo said.

"I will be back soon," Dagger said. Leo nodded in response and he watched as Dagger left the clearing.

Now alone, Leo turned his attention to his feverish sibling. "Mikey, can you open your eyes again?" Mikey frowned at the suggestion, but slowly opened his eyes. Leo put a comforting hand on his brother's cheek, and Mikey leaned into the touch.

"Feels good," Mikey whispered coarsely. Suddenly, Mikey started to cough deeply, and tightly closed his eyes from the pain in his throat. The harsh, thick coughs lasted for a minute or two, and Leo was worried that Mikey's fever had gotten worse. When Mikey stopped, Leo placed his cool hand on his forehead and the sick turtle let out a whimper before opening his eyes again. Mikey swallowed painfully to soothe his dry throat, and tiredly tried to form words again. "L-Leo," he finally whispered. "Thirsty."

"Umm, yeah," Leo said as he looked around nervously for their pack Dagger had set aside. "I'll get you some water. Just hold on a second." Leo reached into the pack and pulled out a water bottle and opened it. "Can you hold it?" he asked Mikey.

"Don' wanna," Mikey slurred hoarsely.

"That's okay. I'll help you," Leo said as he shifted Mikey in an upright position. "Tilt your head back," he ordered. Mikey complied and opened his mouth feebly. Slowly, Leo poured water into Mikey's mouth then stopped as he watched Mikey painfully swallow.

"Ow," Mikey whimpered. Hesitantly, he opened his mouth once more and Leo lifted the water bottle again. When Mikey was finished, he exhaled a hot breath.

"You feeling better?" Leo asked hopefully. Mikey nodded, too tired to even voice his thankfulness. But before he could lean back down, a sickening wave of nausea took him by surprise as his stomach churned. Mikey trembled as he desperately fought the vile acid that threatened to escape his lips. "What's wrong?" Leo asked fearfully.

"W-wanna throw up…" Mikey gasped out.

Leo frowned and looked around wildly, hoping he would miraculously find an answer to Mikey's problem. He panicked; dealing with injuries had been Donnie's department, and Leo was definitely not comfortable with Mikey puking his guts out right then and there. "Uh, just—just hold on Mikey," he said nervously, trying to calm his wheezing brother. "Slow your breathing. Focus on something else." He quickly put his hands under Mikey's arms and picked up his brother. Just as the two made it to the edge of the clearing, Mikey started to vomit on to the ground. Leo made a grimace at the sight and smell, but held tightly onto his brother through it all. When Mikey stopped, Leo set Mikey down onto his knees, but still kept an arm over his plastron to keep him steady. Mikey was pale, and a sheen of sweat covered his brow. He hadn't stopped trembling either. "Mikey, you okay?" Leo asked tentatively.

Mikey spit onto the ground hoping to clear his mouth of the awful taste. "I've been better," he mumbled. His throat felt like it was on fire, but he didn't want to worry his older brother any further. He looked over his shoulder at Leo, who had a distraught face. "Don't look at me like that. I'll be—" he cut off with a choked sound and immediately faced his head back down at the ground. Mikey started to dry heave and couldn't help but groan faintly from the pain it brought to his chest and throat.

"Mikey!" Leo cried, even more concerned over his youngest brother's health. Leo knew that Mikey must be having a high fever for his body to be rejecting everything so severely. He patted Mikey on the shell gently and the turtle's tense muscles finally stared to relax. Leo guided Mikey back to their spot and tenderly laid his brother down to the ground, using his backpack as a pillow.

Mikey opened his eyes again, wondering when he had closed them, and gave Leo a reassuring smile. "Actually, I'm feeling a lot better after that," he whispered. Well…except for his throat, but Leo didn't need to know everything. "So don't look so sad bro," Mikey pleaded.

"You're the one who's sick, yet you're trying to cheer _me_ up," Leo laughed softly. "What would I do without you?"

"I'm the Battle Nexus Champion after all. Nothing in the multiverse can bring me down," Mikey said hoarsely, happy that he got Leo to laugh. "Not even this stupid cold."

"It's not just a stupid cold, Mikey—you're really sick." Leo knit his brow in worry. "As soon as Donnie and Raph find us and we get back to the farmhouse, you'll need to take some strong medication to get you out of the woods." At Mikey's silly grin, Leo added, "Excuse the bad pun."

Mikey sighed. "Anyway, I thought I'd never see the day when _you'd_ be a damsel in distress, Leo. That's my job."

"I thought it was being the Battle Nexus Champion," Leo countered playfully.

Mikey huffed. "That too."

Suddenly, Leo whipped his head toward the unmistakable sound of something coming through the forest. Leo jumped into a defensive position into front of Mikey without a word, but relaxed as soon as he saw Dagger come out of the trees. The wolf had two blankets in his jaws. As Dagger handed them over to Leo he said, "These were the only ones I could find. I hope they are to your liking."

"They're perfect. Thanks," Leo said. He took both blankets and placed them over Mikey.

Dagger looked quizzically at Leo. "You have given him both," he stated uncertainly.

"Yeah," Leo said. "He needs it more than me."

Dagger cocked his head to one side. "Is it the bond you spoke of that makes you so…selfless?"

Leo rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Well, I don't think I'd call it being selfless. But we do care for each other."

"Have you been watching Master Splinter's soap operas again, Leo?" Mikey said faintly. Leo laughed and Dagger looked even more confused at the comment. "I may have some good blackmail material on you, oh-fearless-leader," Mikey smiled. He started to cough a bit and Leo patted his shell with an amused smile.

"You are the leader of your brothers?" Dagger said incredulously to Leo.

"He's the one and only," Mikey rasped. He started to cough a little harder and Leo gently stroked Mikey's arm to comfort his brother.

Through half-lidded eyes, Mikey said, "I'm kinda sleepy."

Leo smiled warmly at his brother. "Then rest. I'll be here." He watched as his youngest brother closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Dagger narrowed his eyes in frustration asked Leo, "How can you be so calm? I thought the bond you speak of made you protect your brothers; yet one is weakened and the others are missing." Dagger furrowed his brow anxiously. "You doubted _our_ happiness, yet under your lead, are _your_ brothers happy?"

Leo smiled sympathetically to Dagger, who gave a puzzled frown at the peaceful expression. "Well, I guess after talking with Mikey, I realized I had to stop worrying so much about my brothers. So what if Raph and Don were missing? They're alive and that's all that matters." Leo paused with a thoughtful look on his face. "I know that I can trust my brothers enough to be fine on their own, because they are more than capable of taking care of themselves and protecting the other." Dagger looked at Leo in awe at his explanation.

"That's why I can be calm. And you want to know why we are happy, even under my leadership?" Leo said quietly. Dagger nodded sheepishly. "It is because we live as brothers. Although we…disagree with each other sometimes, we fight together, we laugh together, and we cry together. We trust and protect one another, and hang out and have fun." Leo smiled as he let his memory flash with those moments he held dear. He felt a stinging sensation at the corner of his eyes, but refused to cry in front of Dagger. He fell silent, but continued to tenderly rub Mikey's arm . He could tell that Mikey was listening by the content look on the youngest's face, but did not want to fully wake his brother because he still needed rest.

"I am jealous," Dagger confessed seriously.

Leo looked up to Dagger with a smirk. "Don't be so solemn, Dagger. I mean if you wanted to, you could change—"

"—No," Dagger interrupted, shaking his head. "King would never allow it. He does not see anyone as an equal to himself; even I am at his mercy." Dagger lowered his eyes to the ground.

"Then fight for your freedom," Leo said firmly.

Dagger gave a wide-eyed stare. "Fight? I-I don't…" he was at a loss for words. "I have never even thought of such a thing."

"Don't you think that the rest of the wolf army is miserable?" Leo pressed earnestly. Dagger gave a nod. "Then, why can't they fight against King, and make you leader?"

"It is not how things are done," Dagger protested. "For me to assume the leader position…I would have to kill King in a duel."

Leo nodded understandingly. "And?"

"I do not know if I am capable of beating such a foe," Dagger continued. "And King would never accept the duel in the first place."

Leo rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "But if I could get King to duel you, would you fight?" he asked, looking Dagger straight in the eyes.

"W-well I…" Dagger faltered.

"Think of your army, Dagger. Your comrades," Leo implored.

Dagger breathed out and looked up decisively. "Yes. I would fight him."

"And win," responded Leo.

Dagger nodded. "I should inform my…comrades." He smiled at the last word. Looking down at Mikey he asked, "Can he wait until morning?"

Leo grinned. "I'll take care of him," he said as he patted Mikey's forehead. "He'll be okay."

Dagger smiled back. "It must be nice, having a brother to look after."

Leo laughed at the remark. "You'll never know the half of it," he said. "My brothers are such a handful; sometimes I just want to shut them up. Okay, well mostly Raph. I mean, he could at least follow _some_ of my orders, but—" Leo stopped, forgetting he was getting off topic. At Dagger's confused look, Leo added, "But then again, I will love my brothers no matter what, and fight for their happiness—even at the expense of mine."

"You do make a good leader, Leo," Dagger said. "One that I hope to become someday if—ah, I mean _when_ I win the duel."

"That's the spirit," Leo said.

Dagger stood up. "I should go. Thank you, and goodnight." He bowed his head at Leo as a farewell and slipped into the forest.

Leo let his eyes linger at the spot where he had just watched Dagger leave. He could barely make out the trees that surrounded the clearing anymore, for it had become pretty dark already. Leo tucked the two blankets tighter around Mikey and sat next to him with his swords propped up. Just in case, Leo decided he would keep watch a few more hours before going to bed. He hoped that Don and Raph would come soon; his optimism about Mikey's condition and his missing brothers' whereabouts would not last much longer. His last thought before going to sleep was about how he would persuade King to duel, and a scheming grin crept upon his face. He knew what he would do…


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you very, very much to those who reviewed so far and I hope that everyone will enjoy the next chapter. Please let me know what you think! Nothing much else to say, so I'll let the story carry on...**

…Don didn't know what to do. Of course Raph had to go after the wolf in a fit of rage, but did he _have_ to crash right into the wolf? It may not have mattered in a different situation, but Raph's brutal stunt made things go from bad to worse. At the moment, said wolf was lying on the ground unconscious; and unfortunately, getting information from him now was definitely going to be _much_ harder. Don muttered angrily to himself as he looked at Raph who had just stood up from his crouched position over the wolf. Suddenly, he noticed something unsettling. "Raph!" he yelled, running over to his brother. "You're bleeding! Are you okay?"

Raph looked at Don and quickly glanced down at his arm. He looked back to the wolf on the ground. "Yeah, guess he nicked me where Dagger bite was," he said, pointing over his shoulder to the wolf.

Don examined Raph's arm carefully. "I should have inspected your arm earlier. You're lucky it didn't get infected, but Dagger's bite along with this new cut still needs to be treated."

"Right," Raph replied sarcastically, "and there jus' happens ta be some medical stuff stuff layin' around in this crazy forest…"

"I'm…I'm working on it, okay?" Don retorted. He looked around, and then met Raph's eyes as soon as he realized what he would do. "Your bandana!" he exclaimed. "I can use it to wrap around your arm. Well, after you clean it, of course. We passed by the river just a minute ago, so we should go there first."

Raph jerked his head toward the wolf on the ground. "An' him?"

"Uh, I guess we can carry him with us…" Don said apprehensively.

"S'long as he doesn't wake up 'n bite our heads off," Raph sneered, bending down to grab the wolf.

"Ah, ah, ah—don't touch him," Don warned. He walked swiftly over to the wolf, and after hesitating a moment, picked him up. Don passed Raph, leading the way to the river, and clarified, "I don't want you worsen your injury."

Several minutes later, Raph's arm was cleaned and tightly bandaged with his red bandana. "Thanks," Raph grunted to Don after he was done.

"Well, at least we solved that problem," said Don. "And bonus, our captured friend hasn't gotten up either. Although I'm starting to worry…What if we can't get him to wake up? And if he does wake up, how exactly should we approach persuading him?" Raph shrugged in response. Don lowered his head and mumbled, "I guess we should have planned this out more."

Raph let out a frustrated sigh. "Why don't we, I don' know, splash some water on 'im? That always works fer Mikey."

"Yeah, and then he'd chase you halfway around New York with his water balloons," Don replied.

"What a knucklehead…" Raph smirked. Don chuckled at Raph's comment and shared a reminiscent look with his brother.

The memory of his youngest brother's antics made Don feel a bit anxious. He really missed his brothers. Shaking his head, Don reminded himself to go about this calmly and rationally. He knew he'd have to pull himself together or else he might never see them again. "I guess brooding won't get us anywhere," he told Raph. "We have to think of something."

"Meanin' that _you'll_ think a' somethin'," Raph sneered at Don.

Don frowned, a bit offended. "You can help me out for once, you know." He groaned. "Let's see, if we wake the wolf up, we could threaten him to get some answers. But he might not talk." Don scratched his head. "And if he's smart enough he could lead us into a trap. Hmm…there are so many possibilities here. Maybe we could…"

Raph tuned out Don's long-winded ramble and tapped his fingers on his knee irritably. After a few minutes, he grew more and more impatient until finally, he couldn't take it anymore. "Donnie, don' bust yer brain overthinkin' things!" he yelled.

Don turned to his brother with an annoyed scowl and said, "It's not as easy as you think, Raph. These wolves aren't as dumb as you think."

Raph crossed his arms and snorted in disagreement, looking down at the wolf who lay between him and his brother. "More like they aren't as smart as ya think. I bet even Mikey is smarter than these flea-brained—" Raph cut himself off. "Mikey…hmm," Raph snickered.

"What?" inquired Don curiously.

"Donnie, I think I have a plan," Raph said with a familiar evil smile. "And we won't even hafta persuade the wolf." Don looked doubtful, but stayed silent. "Ya know when Mikey runs off after he pulls off one'a his stupid pranks on me?"

Don nodded. "So?"

"Well, the best way ta catch Mikey after that is ta make 'im think that he escaped me. And when he comes back to the couch or whateva', BAM!" Don jumped at the unexpected shout. "I catch the little sucker. Get it?"

"Uh…which part?" Don quirked an eye ridge.

Raph sighed loudly. "Do I have ta spell it out fer ya? Look, when that wolf wakes up, he'll probably be freaked outta his mind, right? 'An that means he'll go crawlin' back ta where all his little friends are an'—"

"—Then we can follow him back!" Don enthusiastically finished. "Raph, that's brilliant!"

"Meh, it all comes from practice…" Raph explained smugly.

"Okay, then. I-I guess we'll just...wait," Don said. "Out of sight, of course." He and Raph quietly got up and positioned themselves behind a tall bush. Through the breaks in the leaves, they were still able to monitor the wolf, who still lay motionless beside the river. After waiting a little while, Don couldn't help but fidget with nervousness. Though nothing was happening, the tension grew more intense as every second ticked by in Don's head. He started to have second thoughts.

Raph noticed his brother's discomfort and said, "Don, yer makin' _me_ jumpy with all that twitchin'."

Don looked up nervously. "Sorry Raph, I…I just don't like waiting, doing nothing. I mean, we could be—"

"—Yer preachin' to the choir, bro," Raph interrupted in a low whisper. "I'm itchin' for a fight so I can pay back that Dagger tenfold and get all of us the shell outta here. But—and I can't believe that I'd be sayin' this—we gotta be patient if we want this thing ta work out."

Don chuckled softly. "Coming up with plans and then telling _me _to be patient? What's gotten into you, Raph?"

"Dunno. I just…dunno," Raph answered uncertainly.

"I guess we just really want our brothers back," Don said sadly.

"An' we'll get 'em. Then kick some wolf butt," Raph responded with a crooked smile.

Suddenly, Raph and Don sensed movement in front of their bush and went still. Through the leaves, they could see the wolf slowly get up and whip its head around confusedly. The turtles did not so much as twitch when the wolf sent several fierce barks into the dark forest beyond him. When the warnings were unanswered, the panic-stricken wolf bounded into the forest at a startling pace. Unbeknownst to him, two turtles with ninja speed followed close behind in the shadows of the trees. They desperately fought to camouflage themselves in the green shades of the forest, though if the frantic wolf had been watching closely, he may have noticed the peculiar white glint of their smiles as they moved closer and closer to the location of their brothers.


	7. Chapter 7

**Whew, finished another chapter. Dunno how much longer I'm gonna spend on this story, but I know there's a few more chapters to go. Don't forget to tell me what you think too! Okay, I guess there's not that much happening this time…still it always makes me happy to hear from readers. But of course, the story must go on…**

Leo was awakened when he felt someone shaking him, and tiredly swiveled his brown eyes to meet a pair of blue ones. He sighed, about to close his eyes again when he suddenly remembered everything that had happened, and shot straight up.

"Sorry, didn' mean t' scare you," Mikey slurred hoarsely. He touched Leo's shoulder again, hoping to calm his older brother down. Leo looked to Mikey and settled into a sitting position next to him.

"Mikey," Leo said softly, taking the youngest's hand in his own. "You…don't sound too good." Leo stared at Mikey's pale face and placed a hand under his brother's chin to tilt the turtle's head up into the morning sunlight. Leo frowned concernedly. "You don't look very good, either."

"Thanks bro, jus' what I wanna hear 'n the morning." Mikey attempted a sarcastic grin that turned into a pained grimace when he started to cough.

Leo immediately retrieved a water bottle from his pack and coaxed Mikey into drinking half of it. And after fighting a weak protest from Mikey, Leo made his brother lie back down and tucked the turtle back in the two blankets. He gingerly placed a hand over Mikey's forehead and said, "You still have a high fever, so no moving around. I don't want to lose you over this."

"Leo, 'm not gonna d—" Mikey stopped at Leo's firm glare. "Okay, okay…" he mumbled in compliance.

"Good," Leo said. "So, what did you wake me up for? And keep it short; your throat is bad enough as it is."

Mikey tried to clear his throat but it only resulted in a few faint coughs. "Well, I was up first n' Dagger tol' me to wake you 'n said…" Mikey trailed off, trying to stop a cough from coming. He waited until the tickling feeling in the back of his throat subsided.

"What did he say?" Leo encouraged. Mikey had gotten worse, he knew, and hoped that Mikey hadn't noticed the slight wince he made at his brother's feverish dialogue. He could tell that it was taking Mikey a lot effort just to talk.

"Dagger…he wanted t' meet with you an' discuss his duel," Mikey finished listlessly. "Whazzat mean by the way? His duel…" Leo nodded resolutely to show his understanding. He then told Mikey about the deal he made with Dagger from last night, and his plans to persuade King. By the end of Leo's story Mikey's face had become a little paler, but he smiled anyway. "I like your plan, bro."

Leo smirked. "Knew you would approve." Mikey was about to respond when he suddenly cringed. Leo watched as Mikey then shook his head sluggishly. "What's wrong?" Leo asked.

"Ugh…headache again," Mikey muttered.

"Again?" Leo said worriedly.

"Mm. It-it'll pass—" Mikey jerked his head to the side and took in a sharp breath. He closed his eyes tightly.

It tortured Leo to see the youngest in so much pain, but he had no idea how to help his brother. He reached out and held Mikey's hand. "Oh, Mikey," he sighed. After a few minutes, Mikey finally started to relax, though he was still in bad shape. Leo noticed the youngest was breathing harder than before and beads of sweat started to appear on his forehead.

"You have t' go, Leo," Mikey whispered.

"What? You mean to see Dagger?" Leo used a corner of the blanket to wipe Mikey's forehead. "I can't—Mikey, I won't leave you, especially when you're—"

"—don' have t' leave me…" Mikey interrupted, "…jus' carry out your plan, or I'll haveta use my blackmailing powers." He gave a weak version of his trademark smile.

Leo sighed, giving in. "Okay fine, but I'm gonna have to carry you there. Think you can make it?"

"Yeah, 'm tough as...well, Raph on a bad day," Mikey replied with a tired grin. He propped himself up on his elbows and lifted his head up, but couldn't quite manage to sit up more. Leo took the opportunity to lock his arms underneath Mikey's and heave his little brother up. Mikey grabbed tightly onto Leo as he felt his head spin and couldn't help but whimper when he was shifted to Leo's shell.

Leo could feel Mikey's muscles strain and tremble as the turtle tried to hold himself up and said soothingly, "Mikey, don't struggle. I got you."

Mikey relaxed at Leo's suggestion and rested silently for a moment. "You always do," he murmured hazily.

Leo felt a little embarrassed at the comment and stayed quiet as he made his way out of the clearing. He always got him, huh? His thoughts shifted to Don and Raph again, and he wondered what his brothers were doing. He really needed Don and his knowledge in illnesses. He wasn't exactly sure that anything could be done for Mikey's fever in the situation at hand, but it always helped to have a calm and intelligent mind like Don's around. Heck, he could have used some rough support from Raph at this point. It was so…disorienting to wake up in a forest like this, especially in the presence of killer wolves. At least he was on their side. Well, except for one.

Getting back his original train of thought, he looked around and wondered where Dagger actually wanted to meet him. Suddenly, a wolf came out from the bushes and walked up to the turtles. Leo tensed and took a step back, ready for anything.

"Do not be alarmed. I will show you to the commander," said the wolf, motioning towards where he had come from. Leo gave a reassuring glance to Mikey and let the wolf guide him through the forest, though he still was on his guard for a possible trap. Not a minute later did he arrive to grassy clearing where Dagger was standing, along with the rest of the wolf army. It was quite a sight for Leo to see so many wolves in one place, but the most surprising thing of all was when he entered, every wolf had their head bowed to him. Leo stood there, not knowing what to do, until Dagger called him forward.

"You may place your brother down to rest," Dagger said to Leo. Mikey was lowered gently, and Leo placed the back pack he had also carried with him under his brother's head as a pillow. Leo lifted his eyes to Dagger, but remained on the ground next to Mikey. The wolves around him decided to sit as well and gathered around Leo, Mikey and Dagger.

"Hmm, this kinda reminds me of a pow wow…" Mikey said faintly. Leo shushed his brother, but couldn't hide the smile that crept on his face.

"Welcome to my army 'base', as we call it," Dagger greeted.

"Hao," Mikey responded weakly. Leo chuckled softly at the remark and placed a calming hand on Mikey's shoulder.

Dagger gave a curious look at Mikey and then turned to the large group of wolves. "My comrades, the day has come to free ourselves from King's long reign, and it is all thanks to these creatures you see beside me." Leo gave a proud smile at the recognition and squeezed his brother's shoulder comfortingly. Dagger nodded to Leo and continued, "I have told you all about my deal, and that King is to be persuaded to fight me by our new ally." Dagger turned to Leo. "And so my friend, we will follow under _your_ orders this time."

Leo nodded in agreement and turned to the group of wolves. "Okay. Well this may sound a bit silly, but as serious as the duel may be, we need to be as..." Leo gave a devious smile, "…ridiculous as possible if we want this to work." The wolf army looked at Leo in confusion, and a few whispers were exchanged among the crowd. "It'll make sense, trust me. From what I remember, King is quick to anger with a nasty temper, especially if things don't go his way. I think—no, I _know_—that if we get him mad enough with a couple of well-thought-out pranks, he'll go ballistic." Leo scanned the mass of wolves. "Right?" he asked, hoping to reinforce his argument. A couple of murmured agreements and nods were seen among the wolves. Leo briefly glanced at Dagger, who wore a knowing smile. "Here's the tricky part. King will definitely want to know who was responsible. When Dagger reveals himself to be the culprit of the pranks, well, unfortunately I can't tell you for sure how he'll react _exactly_. But we can plan for a few situations that _probably_ will happen, if you guys help me, and get him to fight Dagger." Leo paused, a little nervous that no one was responding. He turned to Dagger and said, "Does the plan sound okay?"

Dagger nodded triumphantly. "Comrades, I believe that we have ourselves a plan!" the wolf army instantly broke into loud, joyful barks and howls, and started to dance playfully around Leo, voicing their praise.

"Wondrous!" said one.

"A prank! On King!" happily laughed another, winking at Leo.

As the excited chatter died down, the wolves started to discuss their ideas on how King would act at Leo's plan. As Dagger organized the conversation, Leo listened to each story, and started to formulate ideas. Finally after an hour, Leo was surprised to see that the wolf army decided that there only could be two possible outcomes. Was King that predictable? From the accounts given, it really seemed to be so. They felt that King would either demand for Dagger's own army to kill him, or he would go after Dagger himself. The plan was that the army would refuse to heed their leader's commands and Dagger would announce the duel, or Dagger would simply let King go after him and declare that they must duel for the title. Leo also knew that it all depended on how mad King would be, but he knew he could trust the wolves to do their best…or rather their worst. Looking over the enthusiastic crowd, Leo felt bad for Dagger and the rest of the wolf army—their life under King's rule was really starting to sound terrible. What's worse, Leo thought, was that the wolves had believed their way of life, as harsh as it was, was what they deserved. He was extremely glad to have set these creatures on the right path.

But then again—Leo looked down at the sleeping form of Mikey, who had nodded off around the middle of the discussion. He knew he couldn't afford to waste any more time, but he had to see this through. He felt torn, guilty at his happiness for helping Dagger and the wolves while Mikey was suffering with a high fever. He gently nudged his brother's arm. "Mikey?" he said, waking up the napping turtle.

Mikey yawned. "Yeah, Leo?" he whispered drowsily.

"How do you feel? Are you in any pain?" Leo asked worriedly.

" 'M kinda hot," Mikey hazily explained. "I feel all…achy. An' my head hurts."

"Sorry bro," Leo said.

"S'okay," Mikey whispered in response.

Leo could barely make out Mikey's soft voice and leaned in a little closer to his brother. "Well, I wanted to ask you if…well I really don't have the right, and you're really sick, but its just—"

"—jeeze , jus' say it Leo," Mikey cut in, a little more awake.

Leo sighed. "I was wondering if it would be okay with you…if we could stay a little while longer, until Dagger wins the fight."

"That's it?" Mikey said. He shifted onto his side and closed his eyes again. "Dude, 'course we're gonna stay…gotta see Dagger beat the snot outta King…"

"Thanks Mikey." Leo relaxed, his guilty tension mostly gone. "You've toughed it out this whole time, and I'm really proud of you." Leo rubbed the back of Mikey's shell affectionately.

"Mmhm," was Mikey's tired reply. Leo could tell Mikey had been troubled over his weakened state, and he hoped that his brother realized that he, Raph, Don, and didn't think that any of this was his fault. He decisively turned to Dagger and said, "We need to find a hiding place. King can't distracted by anything, and there may also be a chance that he'll still come after us."

"Yes, you are right," Dagger agreed. He talked with a couple wolves for a moment and looked back to Leo, who had already scooped Mikey up into his arms. "This way," Dagger said, walking out of the clearing. Mikey clung to his brother like a child as Leo started to walk. Mikey tightly clasped his arms around his older brother's neck while Leo had one arm under Mikey's legs and another supporting his back. Sleepily, Mikey nuzzled closer to the warmth his brother provided and Leo chuckled at the cute scene. Once Dagger showed him where to stay, a space that was hidden by a circle of tall bushes, Leo set Mikey down again and then turned his attention to Dagger. He knew that wouldn't be able to directly help with the plan, so he discussed some of the specific details of the pranks.

"And remember," Leo finished, "if you have any questions or doubts, please come to me. I want this to go as planned."

"I will," said Dagger. "Be safe my friends, and I will be back shortly." After a gracious bow, he ran back into the forest.

Leo turned back to the resting Mikey and watched him with a growing concern. He remembered what Mikey had said about the fever, and in his solitude he couldn't help but feel a familiar wave of guilt wash over him. "Sorry," he whispered. Suddenly, he felt something touching his leg and jerked with surprise. He looked down to see that Mikey's was watching him with half-opened eyes, hand outstretched. Leo smiled and took the youngest's hand in his. "Guess I'm already forgiven," Leo chuckled softy. Mikey smiled weakly, closed his eyes again, and fell into a well-deserved sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hi...okay so I am really sorry about the long delay, but you know…life. And what's more, I'm sorry it's so short, but at least you can enjoy it for now until the next chapter. And if you have the time please drop me a line and tell me what you think! At any rate, the story must continue…**

Leo continued to watch over his sick brother for a while longer, every so often checking for any signs of movement in the forest beyond him. Finally, after what seemed like decades to Leo, Dagger appeared. Leo was a bit nervous when he was met with Dagger's anxious frown, but the wolf instantly cleared his doubt with a confirming nod. "We have carried out the preparations, as you instructed," Dagger said in a hushed voice.

"And King?" Leo inquired.

"Distracted with one of my comrades," Dagger replied. "He should be returning shortly, so I won't have much time..." the wolf trailed off. He wore a worried expression.

"Hey, don't worry Dagger," Leo reassured. "I know you can win the duel."

Dagger sighed. "I envy your optimism."

"It's not optimism," Leo corrected, and Dagger cocked his head confusedly. "I just…know. You have more to lose. And that drive to protect what could be lost is what will make your attacks stronger, heavier."

"And it is the same for you and your brothers," Dagger added thoughtfully.

Leo blinked in surprise. "Well…yeah. I guess so." He gave a knowing smile to Dagger. "You sure are learning this leadership thing a little _too_ well."

Dagger chuckled a bit, but then gave Leo a serious stare. "I must warn you it will be a viscous fight. You are sure you want to watch?"

"Yes," Leo responded confidently. "We'll keep out of sight, though."

"Well then…" Dagger paused, glancing at the sleeping Mikey. "…I will see you two when all is settled. It was a pleasure to be in your company."

Leo smiled awkwardly at the wolf's politeness. "Thank you," he said.

By the time Dagger's hurried footfalls in the forest could no longer be heard, Leo started to wonder how long it had been since he had last seen Raph and Don. Two days, he finally figured—it had only been two days and yet so much had happened to him and Mikey. He moved onto thinking about what he would do after the duel. He was fairly sure that the wolf army would aid him in searching for his lost brothers, wherever they were. For Mikey's sake, he hoped they weren't too far away.

Little did Leo know that Don and Raph were only a little ways off from where he was. They had successfully followed the panicked wolf until he had stopped at a deserted clearing that looked like it could be some sort of gathering spot for wolves. They watched as wolf let out a shrill howl and waited. When no one came, the wolf started up again, as did Raph and Don. The turtles were exhausted from running around all day, but their tired spirits rose at a sudden realization.

"I think we're close, Donnie," Raph whispered.

"Yeah," Don whispered back happily. "But you know what this means right? We'll have to knock out that wolf again so that he doesn't have a chance to alert the others."

Raph nodded in agreement. "So we'll have ta find them on our own after that, then," he groaned irritably, looking at the wolf that was running ahead of them.

"Ready?" Don asked.

Raph smiled confidently. "Shell yeah." And in an instant, he darted out from the veil of trees and shrubs and attacked the wolf from behind. Don flinched at the grunt that came from Raph when he landed hard on the forest ground, pinning the wolf beneath him. And in a matter of seconds the wolf was knocked out for the second time that day. Raph was on a roll.

"Okay, I think we should start off in the direction the wolf was going, and then…we'll figure it out from there," Don said. He looked to the wolf below him. "And maybe we should hide him, just in case."

"Whateva'," Raph replied. He lifted the wolf and swiveled his head around, looking for a good hiding place and spotted a clump of large shrubs in the distance. He walked over to it and was about to put the wolf down when something caught his eye. After hiding the wolf, he curiously wandered towards what caught his attention and squinted his eyes.

"Raph, what are you doing?" Don asked impatiently as he briskly strode to where his brother had stopped. "Let's go, we don't have much—" he halted immediately at the sight in front of him. "Is that—is that a…mountain?"

"Don' think so," Raph said gruffly, shaking his head. "Let's check it out."

"I don't see how this will lead us to Leo and Mikey," Don chided.

Raph turned to his brother with frown. "Don, they could be anywhere. Jus' 'cause we're close don' mean we'll find 'em if we follow whereva' that wolf was goin'."

Don sighed in defeat. "Fine."

The two turtles cautiously crept towards the large formation that stood in the distance. Finally, they were close enough to get a good look at what it was…and made a shocking discovery.

"It's a mountain of…stuff!" Don exclaimed in a shrill whisper. After making sure the coast was clear, he and Raph proceeded to the gigantic mound and examined its extensive contents.

"Buncha' junk an' pots an' spoons…" Raph mumbled his findings, "…'s that a whole tent?"

"Hey Raph! I found my Bo and your sai!" Don called from the other side of the mound.

Raph quickly trudged around to where Don was, and sure enough he saw his sai were partly buried a few feet above him. He grabbed his weapons, twirled them a bit, and placed them back in his belt. He watched as Don secured his Bo and said, "I'm glad ta have these back and all, but how'd they get here in the firs' place?"

"I think…I think this is a pile of things that the wolves have collected from people…and probably from the ones who camp out in this forest," Don decided. "I mean, why else would our weapons be here?"

Raph shrugged. "We still don' know were Mike an' Leo are."

"Then we'll just keep searching in the shadows," Don sighed. "I just know they're close." And with their weapons restored to their rightful place, the two turtles disappeared into the forest and continued their search.


	9. Chapter 9

**Wow, I haven't updated in a while. Sorry again. First my computer gets a virus…and then I get one. It was not fun, let me tell ya. But I'm glad that's over so I can get back to writing! I hope you enjoy this chapter as I did my best—and as always, I'd be happy to know what you think. And the story continues once more…**

Leo felt anxious, craning his neck to see over the tall bushes that surrounded him and his brother. Finally, he caught sight of King just making his way over to the clearing that Leo had been called to by the wolf a couple days ago. Leo could barely make out what was happening from his hiding place, but he knew he would have to make do with the situation. He strained to hear what King was saying.

"You incompetent _fools_," King spat out at the small group of wolves that surrounded him. "Bringing me to investigate a human camp, and it was a false alarm! I should have you all—"

"—Be at ease, King," a wolf interrupted. "Please, sit. We will serve your every need."

King gave an irritated scowl but haughtily made his way to his large bone chair. Leo bit his cheek as he watched. In a moment, it would all start.

King started to give commands to the wolves and said, "Get me my fan, and then I want—" he cut off instantly as his chair collapsed into pieces as soon as he sat on it. For a moment, King stared at the remains of his prized throne, bewildered. He started to shake with rage and let out an outraged shriek. "WHO DID THIS?" King screamed, spit flying from his mouth. He looked around wildly at the wolves around him. Their faces mirrored the stunned expression that King had worn a second ago, but Leo knew that they were just acting. And they were damn good at it too, the turtle concluded.

"I WANT TO KNOW—" King started to shout again, only to be cut off by the water that drenched him from above. King speechlessly looked up and faced an entire bucket-full of silverware about to crash down on him. He let out a yelp and tried to run, but was too late as the sharp utensil collection stabbed and scratched him on its way down to the ground. King looked up again to catch a shadow jumping into the tree branches that towered above him. His face distorted into an ugly grimace from the pure hatred he was feeling, and he boomed, "I saw you in that tree up there, you conniving piece of trash!" He waited for an answer, but when he got none, he growled loudly and swiveled his head around to find the one responsible. The group of wolves had backed away ever so slowly, and by the time they had escaped King's sight, he had already forgotten about them. He was livid, and had the urge to kill something—or some_one_.

"SHOW YOURSELF!" he bellowed, panting from his vehement fury. And before King could respond, another round was thrown at him. The shriek that came from the arrogant leader sent the wolves around him in fits of laughter. King had been pelted with raggedy stuffed-toy animals, and sounded like…a little girl. The large black wolf opened his eyes and let out a surprised gasp at the cuddly toys that lay strewn across the ground beside him. He then looked up at his army of wolves, in hysterics. For a split second, Leo could see an embarrassed expression on King's face, but it was wiped away almost instantly and replaced with a look of true anger. King took a deep breath and gave an ear-splitting howl, making Leo and the rest of the wolves jerk in alarm. Everyone went silent at the terrible noise.

Suddenly, Dagger burst onto the scene, cackling loudly. King ceased his furious howl and turned to the wolf that stood in front of him. "Dagger," he growled venomously, "you and your wolf army will be punished for this disgraceful behavior. I want whoever is responsible dead. Stop laughing and obey me NOW!" King looked ready to explode in rage at that point. But to his surprise, it seemed to have no effect on Dagger, who still wore a suspiciously mischievous smile.

"Come now King, surely you aren't too embarrassed," Dagger crooned in a mocking voice. His smile grew wider. "After all, that girly scream sounded far more fearful than the ones we've heard in this forest before. You should be proud."

At Dagger's comment, King's eyes grew wide. "You…" he started shakily, "…you were the one…"

"…who did these pranks?" Dagger finished. "Of course I did; who else but me would know your true cowardly nature? I _am_ your second-in-command, remember?"

For a moment, King stood there dumbstruck. But anger consumed him again and his face formed a hostile grimace. He let out a snarl. "You will face my wrath, Dagger, _I cannot even_—!" King desperately tried to calm himself down and cut off his enraged shout. He closed his hung-open mouth, which made his face look even more distorted with rage. After he calmed down a bit, he let out an evil laugh. He turned around to the crowd of wolves that had gathered at the commotion. "My wolves, your army commander will face his fate today and submit to me for this blasphemy. His punishment will be…" he slowly turned to Dagger beside him, "…death!" A chorus of gasps rang out from the group of wolfs, and soft murmurs of their shock could be heard.

From behind the tall bushes, Leo couldn't help but let out a relieved sigh and grin. His plan was working! Now, all that was left…was the arrangement of the duel. He looked down at Mikey and gave a reassuring smile. With a strong urge to know what had happened, Mikey strained to lift his head up. At the movement, Leo put a hand to his brother's chest and pushed him back down, mouthing to Mikey, _save your strength_. Mikey begrudgingly obeyed and reached for Leo's hand again instead. With a gentle smile, Leo took his brother's hand then turned back around to watch King and Dagger.

"I am to die, you say?" asked Dagger nonchalantly.

Ignoring Dagger's strange indifference, King responded with a cruel laugh. "Yes, but don't worry; you'll be slain honorably…by me."

Dagger smirked. "And what if I resist?"

"You will not escape destiny I have given you!" King shouted haughtily. He stopped for a second, realizing something. "You think that you can defeat me?" King snarled.

Dagger stood, unfazed by King's threat. "Yes."

"This foolishness ends now!" King yelled, unable to contain his rage any longer. He launched himself at Dagger, only to see his target dodge him completely. "YOU!" he screamed, "Do not defy me, or else—"

"—or else what?" Dagger interrupted. "You cannot kill me, King, and I do not want to be ruled by you any longer."

"Not want to be ruled by—" King repeated, in shock. "I am the leader of you filth, the most powerful of all!"

"Then how about this, King." Dagger took a deep breath. "You will duel me for the tile of leader. "

"You think that you are superior enough to duel _me _and become leader? Impossible!" King exclaimed.

"Are you afraid to duel with such an inferior being as myself?" Dagger pressed. "I am strong enough…to defeat you."

King was outraged. "Why you…" he trailed off, barely able to speak from anger. He let out a low growl instead. "Fine. I will show you—no, I will show your entire wolf army why I am leader, and why I am to be _feared_!"

"We will see," Dagger answered evenly.

Leo held his breath in anticipation. The outcome of this deadly battle would determine the future of the entire wolf army and he desperately wanted to help, but he knew the rule—Dagger alone would be the one to duel King, not him. Leo could feel Mikey's hand tighten around his and he squeezed back, knowing that Mikey was equally worried about the fight. Suddenly, King's bitter voice cut through the forest and Leo lifted his head up to find Dagger and King facing each other.

"You amaze me, Dagger. Doing all this—" King gestured behind him to the broken chair and polluted ground, "—for a silly little duel that will end your silly little life. I thought I taught you better than that."

Dagger puffed out his chest at the insult. "You have taught me nothing, except for what a leader should _not_ be. And that is why you will die, here and now."

King snickered. "If you want to bestow me the honor of ending your _wretched_ life, then so be it, Dagger."

The wolf army formed a large ring around the pair, their full attention on them both now. Leo and Mikey watched as both wolves tensed and took their defensive stances. The fight had begun.

Dagger then started to approach King slowly, his lips curled and his fur bristled. A menacing low growl came from King as he too began to move towards his challenger. The black and dark gray wolves circled each other with fierce glares which threatened that neither would cede dominance to the other until one was dead. Both readied themselves to pounce, and a split second later—the two wolves had clashed, tooth and claw lashing out for the kill. Dagger drove King to the ground and the wolves started to roll on top of each other, locked in a struggle for control. And as the fight progressed, Leo had a hard time keeping track of which wolf was which, for the black and dark gray colors seemed to mix in the fray.

Finally, the wolves broke apart and started to circle each other once more. Rugged gashes were bleeding freely on both their flanks, but neither seemed to notice them. Dagger snapped viciously at King, who bared his teeth and snarled back. Again they shot at each other, and their jaws made an impact that sent them both sprawling back. King got up first and flew at Dagger, who was desperately struggling to get up from the hard-hitting collision. Leo silently cringed as King bit viciously into Dagger's neck and watched fearfully as their friend gave a strangled cry and thrashed about, determined to release himself from the painful hold. Finally, Dagger head-butted King, making the black wolf loosen his jaw with just enough time for Dagger to rise up and sink his fangs deeply into King's ear. Instantly, King let out a pained howl and completely let go of Dagger.

Though Leo could not bear to be distracted from Dagger's decisive fight, a sound from the forest made him swiftly turn his head away from the bloody battlefield. He fixed his narrowed eyes beyond the tight circle of the wolf army, and could barely make out something walking through the trees and bushes of the forest, shaped like—his brothers! His breath caught in his throat as he willed himself to calm down. He knew he couldn't make a scene, especially if he wanted Dagger to defeat King. All he had done would be for nothing if his brothers decided to interrupt the fight. He looked down at Mikey and touched his brother's cheek, who looked up and whispered, "What is it, Leo?" Mikey's heart began to race at Leo's wide-eyed stare.

"Mikey, I think Donnie and Raph are here," Leo whispered. Mikey opened his mouth in surprise and Leo clamped his hand on it and put a finger to his own lips, signaling for Mikey to be quiet. With a hand still on his brother's mouth, Leo said softly, "I'm going to stop them before they do anything that could jeopardize the duel." At Mikey's nod, he took away his hand from Mikey's mouth and continued, "I need you to stay here while I go to them, okay? And I know it's asking a lot, but try not to cough too loudly. We can't risk King finding out about us."

As if on cue, Mikey coughed faintly, but he put his own hand over his mouth to silence it. "No problem, bro," he rasped. "M'so glad they came."

"Yeah." Leo gave a loving smile to his brother and patted Mikey's forehead tenderly before he silently started to move away from their hiding place. Dagger and King were still going at it, and Leo wondered how much longer the duel was going to last.

Stealthily, he made his way to the moving shapes, checking behind him every few seconds to make sure he wasn't seen. Finally, he was close enough to be sure it was his brothers and ran the last several yards.

"_Raph_!" he whispered fiercely. "_Don_!"

The two turtles turned around, startled. "LEO!" they both shouted. Instantly, Don's and Raph's mouths were covered by their brother's hands.

"Guys, you have no idea how glad I am to see you, but you have to be quiet!" Leo whispered, taking his hands away.

"Bro, you have no idea how much _we're_ glad to see you," Don whispered back. "We thought that…" he trailed off. "We thought…"

Raph slung his arms around Don and Leo with a crooked smile. "It don't matta' anymore. 'M glad we found ya."

Suddenly, Don picked his head up and looked around. "Leo, where's Mikey?"

"He's hidden in the bushes, just a little ways off from here," Leo replied. "We should really get back to him, but before that, I—"

"—Is he okay?" Don said, cutting off Leo.

Leo heaved a sigh and gave a troubled frown. "In all honesty, no. He…he's really in bad shape."

"Then what are we standin' around for?" Raph said. "Let's get 'im and bust the shell outta here!"

"About that…well it's a long story…" Leo paused, trying to find the best way to explain the current situation.

"Well give us the short version, then," Raph retorted impatiently.

Leo sighed again, looking from Raph to Don. "Fine. I'll make it quick."

By the time Leo had finished relaying what had happened, he could tell his brothers were not taking it well.

"You want to stay here?" Don exclaimed, only to be shushed by Leo. "That's the craziest thing I have ever heard you say!"

"It's only until Dagger wins the duel," Leo reasoned. "And it won't be long, believe me."

"Okay bro, but as soon as it's over, we hit the ground runnin'," Raph said.

"Thanks for understanding guys." Leo gave one last strong hug to his brothers before he turned away and started to walk toward his hideout. "Let's—"

Suddenly, Leo stopped when he heard the distinct sound of coughing. It sounded bad, and if _he_ could hear it, then…"Mikey!" he cried. He started to fun at full speed to his brother, with Raph and Don following close behind.

Dagger was panting hard from exhaustion, and he could tell King was in no better condition. For the past several minutes, the wolves had been at a deadlock; their attacks seemed to come one after the other, but neither wolf was close to giving in. As Dagger was about to lunge at King yet again, a strange noise made the two wolves freeze for a moment. Coughing—the wolves instantly realized that this was what was echoing through the forest, and it could only come from one being. Dagger growled loudly, hoping to recapture King's attention.

But King had already heard enough. He looked back at Dagger with wide-eyes for a second, then took off running toward the source of the disturbance.

"King!" shouted Dagger. He stood fixed in place, dumfounded, before he realized what was about to happen. He rushed after King and let out a shrill howl, hoping to warn Leo. "King!" he desperately shouted again.

At the panicked call of his name, King started to laugh maniacally. "I WILL DRINK THAT BLOOD AND KILL YOU ALL!" he screamed madly.

In the distance, Leo suddenly caught sight of King racing toward Mikey. "NO!" he screamed, petrified. He tried to run as fast as his legs could carry him, but he soon realized the inevitable truth. As much as he pushed himself, he knew he wouldn't make it there in time to stop King. _He wouldn't be able to save his little brother._ "MIKEY!" Everything was a blur as he watched King leap up and hurl himself at Mikey, mouth open and teeth exposed. He sprinted still faster as he felt the world play out in slow motion.

And in the midst of the attack, Mikey let out a blood-curdling scream. "LEOOOOOOOO!"


	10. Chapter 10

**Whoo hoo! Second to last chapter done, and in record time! I felt bad for the super long delay last time, so I decided to get this chapter done asap. I hope you all enjoy, and don't forget to review! I also hope this chapter makes sense and clarifies some things. And the story resumes… **

Leo extended his arm, fingers spread, as if it would somehow reach out to his little brother and prevent this nightmare from happening. Leo, Raph, and Don could only watch as Mikey, who had curled into a defensive ball, scream his brother's name and cower in fear as King descended on him. But at the decisive moment—right as he had managed to touch Mikey with his outstretched nails—King was blown away by a dark-gray shadow that shot out at an incredible speed! Leo had barley registered what exactly happened, but it didn't matter to him anymore now that he knew his brother was safe. As soon as he reached Mikey, he rushed to examine the frightened turtle with shaky hands.

But just as Leo placed a protective hand on the youngest's shell, Mikey screamed out again and swung his arm to hit Leo in the chest. Leo stopped and gave a sad smile. As gently as possible he said, "It's gonna take a lot more to get rid of me, Mikey."

Still sobbing hysterically, Mikey looked up and realized it was his brother kneeling next to him. "L-Leo?" he choked out.

"Whoa!" Leo said as Mikey suddenly jumped into his arms. Leo let out a breath and melted into the tight hug. "Mikey…" he whispered. The youngest was shivering and continued to cry into Leo's plastron.

"I thought…" Mikey started in a hoarse voice, "…I thought he -hic- was gonna _kill_ me…" he sniffled and paused for a second, trying to collect his muddled thoughts. "…I honestly th-thought I was gonna die. I was so scared…s-scared…" Mikey started to whimper again.

Leo pulled Mikey closer and patted his brother's shell with his free hand. "It's okay, Mikey," he said. But he knew that this was far from the truth. He cursed to himself in his mind. In a second's difference, Mikey would have not been okay, and it was his fault that Mikey was a complete wreck at this point, and why _he_ was one also. He was so close to losing his baby brother, and though he refused to cry, he couldn't help but let a lone tear escape. After a moment, Leo moved away from the hug and looked down to at his brother. Mikey took a deep breath and exhaled loudly, as if to put everything behind him. He stared at the ground with flushed cheeks, embarrassed that his brother saw him in such a pathetic state. After he sniffled and rubbed his eyes, he sheepishly picked his head up and gave a weak smile of gratitude to Leo.

"Watch out!" Raph's shout came from behind. And suddenly, Leo and Mikey were pushed flat on the ground by their two brothers as something flew over them.

"Don? Raph?" Mikey wailed in a raspy cry. "You came for us…"

From their entangled position, Don and Raph could only pat Mikey gently on the shell in relief. "Heh…'course we did, Mikey," Raph managed to get out before looking back to the brutal fight.

As soon as his head stopped pounding and he gained his senses, Leo immediately remembered the duel after he saw the two dark forms fighting in front of him. "Dagger!" he cried.

King and Dagger were mess of blood, spit, and dirt, their bodies torn and their fur sticking up at odd angles. Dagger ignored Leo's shout as he continued his duel with King, slashing and biting at every opportunity. But King was distracted by the heap of turtles that lay before him, and gave one last attempt to have his way by charging again at Mikey.

Dagger took this advantage to dive headlong and clamp his powerful jaws on King's back leg. King yelped in pain as his flesh was breached and tried to tug his leg away. But Dagger clenched his jaw further with a sudden ferocity, and managed to crush King's leg bone with a disturbing _snap_. King howled in agony. Swiftly, before King could retaliate, Dagger released the broken leg and lurched forward to smash his jaws onto King's exposed neck. King writhed desperately under Dagger's deadly grip, but could not seem to overpower the dark gray wolf. With a grisly snarl, Dagger wrought his final strike as his fangs pierced through King's throat. King let out a strangled cry and went limp. Dagger stepped back from the gore before him, panting hard.

For a moment, no one moved or said anything as everything snapped into perspective. _Dagger had won._

The victor wolf finally broke out of his trance, looked up from King, and gave a long, sorrowful howl that rang through the dark forest. As the wolf army trailed into the site, they too joined the howl and bowed to their new leader.

Raph, Leo, and Don quickly wriggled out of the turtle pile and watched the as the wolf army finally dispersed, leaving Dagger to deal with King's body. After Leo calmed Mikey and helped lay him back down comfortably, he turned to Dagger.

"I guess, um…there's not much to say," Leo started awkwardly. "Congratulations, Dagger."

The dark gray wolf smiled warmly, despite his gruesome appearance. "Ah, I too am at a loss for words, but…thank you." He cocked his head, noticing the two new turtles. "And these are your brothers, I presume?" Leo nodded in response, and Dagger turned to Raph and Don. "It is a great pleasure to meet you, Raphael and Donatello. Your brother has told me a bit about you," he bowed his head respectfully. Raph and Don looked at each other and then did the same.

Leo suddenly looked puzzled. "Uh, I did talk to you about them, but I didn't mention their full names. In fact, I haven't even told you _my_ name, and now that I think about it…you already knew it some time ago…how did…?" he trailed off in confusion.

Raph, Don, and Mikey's eyes widened at Leo's comment as Dagger chuckled lightly in response. "We instinctively know the names of everything in this world." Dagger explained tiredly. "It is…hard to explain, but to put it simply, it is because we exist as spiritual forms. We are not mortal like you, after all."

"But you can die," said Don matter-of-factly, glancing to the lifeless form of King.

Leo tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm. And King did say he lost wolves to the river, and well, that's the reason this whole mess started, right? But is what he said the truth? Can the river kill you too?"

Dagger gave a sad smile. "Leonardo, that river is indeed the bearer of death, as King said. But what he failed to see is that it is also the creator of _life_." The four turtles looked in astonishment at Dagger. "You see, when we are 'born', as you call it, we rise from that river, and for the entirety of our lives we do not age. But as you know, we are not immortal—we can die by the hand of others, or naturally reach the end of our time. And when it is our time, we are mystically drawn to the river and vanish into the water's depths."

"That's so…fascinating," Don said, astounded.

Raph snorted. "But if King knew that, why'd he want Mikey's blood?" Mikey cringed at the question.

Dagger turned his head where King lay and gave a disgusted grimace. "King is a fool. He believed the rumor that drinking the blood of a living mortal who has consumed the river's water would make him impervious to its powers." Dagger chuckled miserably. "But no one can cheat death, not even King—and he knew that. We are spirits of this forest, not gods. But he was too afraid to face the fact that one day, he too would be drawn to the river and die. Just like the rest of us wolves." Dagger looked up to Leo. "I am sorry to have dragged you all into this, but I am eternally grateful for your help."

Leo gave an understanding smile. "Don't mention it. I'm happy for you and your comrades."

"So…'m guessing this t-turned out ta *cough, cough* be a happy endin'…huh," Mikey whispered drowsily. The three brothers looked to the youngest, each with their own version of a guilty smile. Leo and Don looked concerned, while Raph looked outright annoyed.

"Whadda ya mean, happy endin'?" Raph huffed, crossing his arms.

"I wouldn't call your fever a happy ending, Mikey," Don clarified. He gingerly placed a hand on Mikey's head and then looked to Leo. "He still feels pretty hot. We really should get back to the farmhouse and get him some medicine."

"Yeah," Leo replied, standing up. He scrutinized his younger brothers, who looked tired and dirty, and knew he probably looked the same. He noticed earlier that Raph was maskless and had his arm wrapped with his own red band. He wondered what Don and Raph had gone through while they had been separated, but decided against asking them then. Mikey was his first priority.

With the help of Don, Mikey was lifted onto Leo's shell and the turtle brothers were finally ready to depart. With King in tow, Dagger guided them to the river. The turtles watched as Dagger lowered King into the rushing water and let him sink under. When all was done, Dagger motioned to the direction for the turtles to go and would have accompanied them for the rest of the journey if Leo hadn't refused the offer. Dagger had a wolf pack to lead, after all.

"You were right to trust your brothers' abilities," Dagger said to Leo before he set off. "And I will leave knowing that is my turn to trust in my comrades as well."

Before Leo had a chance to reply, Mikey hoarsely whispered, "D-don't…let his sai fool you—Raph's not the *cough* sh-sharpest tool 'n the shed..."

Leo and Don chuckled as Dagger kit his brows in utter confusion.

"Shut yer face before I break it, chucklehead," Raph warned. Mikey didn't take the threat seriously, knowing he could get away with it, and Raph's relieved smile didn't help either.

Leo shook his head, grinning, then turned back to Dagger. "Goodbye, Dagger. Take care."

"And you as well," Dagger responded. He bowed his head, took one last look at Leo and his brothers, then disappeared into the dense forest.

Leo, Raph, and Don turned around and started to walk along the river. For a couple minutes, they hiked in silence, a bit overwhelmed with the duel they had just witnessed and the entire experience they had gone through over the past few days. Mikey fell asleep again on Leo's back.

Don glanced behind him to check on Mikey and sighed when he saw that his brother was sleeping. Leo gave a sympathetic stare to Don's fretful expression. "He'll get better, Donnie."

Don muttered under his breath and slowed down to fall in step with Leo. "I just—I can't help but worry. What if his sickness escalates into pneumonia, or his fever doesn't go down, or—"

"—Donnie, would'ya quit it?" Raph grumbled. "Mike's not weak, ya know. None of us are."

Don and Leo stopped at their brother's remark, the pure truth of Raph's terse statement enough to calm them. After an awkward silence, Don gave a short laugh. "You'd think I'd have learned that by now," he muttered softly.

Leo carefully shifted Mikey on his shell and started to walk a bit faster. "But you know, it wouldn't hurt to get back there sooner. Now that I think about it, I can't even imagine how worried Master Splinter and the others are."

"That's right, we haven't even contacted them at all," Don said, looking around. "Uh, do you guys happen to have your shell cells? I lost mine in all this…mess." Leo and Raph looked at each other and then back to Don with apologetic smiles. "Great, more work for me when we get back," Don grumbled.

"And I bet Sensei will beat the shell out of us in training when we get back, too," Leo said wearily.

"Ah, who cares? We got each other an' all that mushy stuff," Raph said with a smirk. "Sensei'll get over it. Besides, I've got somethin' ta brag about…"

"What do you mean?" Leo said, glancing over his shoulder.

"Well let's jus' say ya ain't the only one with mystic powers anymore…" Raph said smugly.

Leo raised his brow, intrigued. "Oh really?"


	11. Chapter 11

**Okay, here's the last chapter…OR IS IT? You see, I actually continued the story a little bit further than where this one ends, but I'm not sure if I should post it. So I'll ask you guys, my readers, for your opinion: Do you want an extra chapter that goes a bit into Mikey's recovery and reflections from the turtles, Splinter, and April? Or does this chapter cut off where it should? ****Please tell me what you think****. All that aside, the story will continue, as it has done for all this time…**

"Ya shoulda' seen the size a' this thing—it was a freakin' mountain! An' we figured it was probably what those wolves collected from the forest an' all—"

"—That must've been the keeper's pile!" Leo exclaimed suddenly. "Dagger had told me about it when he got some blankets for Mikey."

"Okay, so it was called the keeper's pile or whateva'," Raph irritably responded to Leo's interruption for what seemed like the hundredth time. He was growing impatient at his brother's unnecessary input in the story of his and Don's experiences, but he let it slide this time. For now, he was happy that he was even able to argue with Leo—but of course, he'd never admit _that_. "So anyway, we started ta snoop around more an' still came up with nothin'." Raph said, continuing his tale. "But then we heard some noise an' decided ta check out whereva' it came from."

"That's when we ran into you, Leo," Don finished. Raph nodded proudly in agreement.

"And the rest is history, I suppose," Leo said listlessly.

"So, whaddya think, Leo?" Raph said in an amused tone. "Jealous that Don an' I could track down wolf spirits with our minds? How's that for mystic power, huh?" Raph elbowed Leo in the plastron playfully.

Leo cracked a smile. "I don't know Raph, I don't think I'd call that having mystic powers…" he trailed off mockingly.

Raph pushed Leo in the shoulder, making his brother stumble for a second. "I knew it, Don! He's totally jealous—"

"—Raph, I'm not." Leo cut off, shoving Raph back.

"It all starts with denial, bro," Raph retorted with a wide smile. He gave Leo one more teasing jab in his plastron before both brothers fell into one of their usual brawls. Though, this one was more for the fun of it.

Don rolled his eyes at the sight and jostled the sleeping turtle on his aching back. Mikey had been switched to his shell a little over an hour ago. "Well, I guess they're back to normal," he said under his breath. He twisted his head to peer at Mikey who had let out a few thick coughs. Don could feel the youngest shift a bit then settle back down, murmuring something unintelligible in his sleep. "Guys, you're getting too loud," Don warned his two bickering brothers. Suddenly, Raph and Leo froze and separated sheepishly.

"Sorry," Leo said with a guilty smile. He and Raph stole a glance behind them to see Mikey.

Raph was first to turn quickly back around. "So, much longer 'till we get back, genius?" he asked, his back to Don.

"Well since we've been walking for around three and a half hours, I'd say within the next half hour," Don replied.

And sure enough, true to Don's word, the turtles arrived in front the farmhouse half an hour later. They were exhausted, but still pushed themselves to get Mikey inside. But before they could even set foot on the old wooden porch, the front door burst open to reveal a very worried-looking Splinter.

"My sons!" Splinter cried as he ran up to Leo, Raph, Don and Mikey.

"Sensei!" three turtles called back. Splinter was pulled into a bone-crushing hug by Leo and Raph. When finally released, he said, "I have missed you all, and am glad that you all have returned."

"What have you guys been doing?" April shouted suddenly as she and Casey marched through the open door over to the turtles. "When we got that phone call, I thought you'd be heading straight over and—"

"—An' we were, April," Raph calmed. "But stuff happened…an' we got caught up 'n somethin' big."

"It's a long story, but right now, it'll have to wait," Leo said. He turned his eyes to Don, giving a silent signal.

Don promptly started to walk into the farmhouse with Mikey in tow. "Casey, Raph, I'm gonna need some help," he declared sharply, not looking back.

"Uh yeah, I'm comin'!" Casey called after Don. He dashed into the farmhouse behind the turtle without another word. Raph followed slowly after them. After giving a reassuring look to April, Splinter left as well, leaving April and Leo alone outside.

At the sight of an unconscious Mikey, April's angry frown had dropped into a look of concern. She put a hand on Leo's shoulder, noting the dirt that had caked on to it, and said softly, "Is Mikey okay? When you phoned us, it sounded like he had a small fever, but…" she stopped, swiveling her eyes to the open door of the farmhouse.

Leo sighed. "He's pretty sick now, yeah," he said in a low voice. He moved forward to the door, escaping April's hold. "But he'll pull though." He flashed a peculiar smile to April then vanished into the farmhouse.

For a moment April stood where Leo left her, thinking about what she had just witnessed. She had known the turtles for a while now and believed to have seen every side of them. She had seen them as silly and playful teenagers, fighting with each other now and again. She had seen them at their best and worst; victorious and jovial, wounded and angry. But Leo's expression was something new for her. Or rather, the feeling that Leo, Don, and Raph gave off was what caught her attention—a content, all-knowing feeling, as if they had learned a life lesson or something. April turned back to face the trail that the turtles had just come from, and looked down it as far as she could to where it faded in the dense forest undergrowth. "What happened there, out in the wilderness?" she muttered solemnly to herself. After another silent moment, she made her way back into the farmhouse. She shut the large, creaky door behind her gently, careful not to make too loud a noise; though from the sound of things, she could tell it was not going to be a quiet day.


	12. Epilogue

**Yes, this is the official last chapter. It's sad that the story has ended, but this has really been an awesome experience for me. I have never written this much before, ever. (Well, for one topic, that is.) Anyway, I'll make this a shout-out to all of those who reviewed this. Thank you, whoever you are! I am truly grateful for all your input and compliments. I really am happy that I was able to complete a story for you all. Jeeze, I'm getting all sentimental now…Ha ha, and no, I do not watch soap operas like Master Splinter, I promise. Really. All that aside, it's time to go back to the story as it continues for one…last…time…**

Inside, everyone was scrambling about by their orders from Don. April came in just as he was yelling another command: "Casey! Get me a wet hand towel from the bathroom! Raph, did you find a thermometer yet?"

Suddenly, Casey appeared out of nowhere and almost ran into April as he sprinted to the couch where Mikey was lying down on. "Sorry, Ape!" he called over his shoulder. He handed a small, wet towel to Don and ran off again. Don gingerly placed the towel on Mikey's forehead.

By this time, April saw that Mikey was awake and decided to talk to him and see how he felt. She walked over to Mikey and petted his arm tenderly. "Hey," she said gently, getting the sick turtle's attention. "How are you feeling?"

Mikey shook his head with an upset frown, but didn't say anything. Even without spoken words, April could tell that Mikey was feeling pretty bad, and coupled with the fact that Mikey wasn't even talking, her worry at the situation rose.

Suddenly, April was pushed aside by Raph. "Hey, need yer temperature, bro," he said gruffly, handing a thermometer to Mikey. The youngest took it and placed the thin object under his hot tongue.

When the thermometer beeped, it was Don who took it out of Mikey's mouth. His face hardened when read the number on the small screen. "He's got a little over a hundred-and-one fever," he announced.

"Well, at least it's not as high as it could be, I guess," Leo said. There was nothing much to say after that, so an awkward silence hung over the group that had gathered around the couch.

In the stillness, Mikey's eyes drifted shut once more. "No, no, c'mon Mikey," Raph said as he tapped his brother's cheek softly. "Ya gotta stay awake an' take yer medicine first."

Mikey whimpered and scrunched up his face, looking up at his brothers. "Better be cherry flavored…*cough, cough*…'s gonna taste awful otherwise," he whispered weakly with a pout. Raph, Don, and Leo laughed, knowing that their brother would never change. At the sight of his brothers' laughter, Mikey couldn't help but let a smile creep onto his pale face. He couldn't wait to get better already; laughing and talking was really something he missed. He had let out a few jokes here and there, but it wasn't enough—he wanted to share his happiness with his brothers. And of course his sense of humor too, but sometimes his brothers weren't so keen on sharing that. Mikey winced, pulled out of his thoughts from the pain his throat gave him, and started to cough again.

Raph went right to rubbing Mikey's shell without a word as Don helped to adjust the wet towel on his forehead. Leo joined in on comforting the youngest as best he could. April however stood where she was, unsure of what to do. But as she watched the four brothers, she knew she wasn't really needed anyway.

Finally, Splinter and Casey appeared with medicine and a cup of water. "Here is the medicine, Donatello," Splinter said as he handed two small bottles over.

"Thanks," Don replied. He swiftly poured out the right amount of thick, red liquid from one bottle into a tiny plastic cup and gave it to Mikey, who downed it in one glup. Mikey voiced a pained grunt as his throat protested at the swallow, but he didn't complain further. "That was for the coughing," Don explained. "And these—" Don dropped two pills from the second bottle into Mikey's hand "—are for the fever." Mikey got the cup of water from Casey and took the pills. After he handed the cup back, he settled back down into the couch with a yawn.

"We should probably move you to a bed," Don suggested.

"Don' wanna get up…" Mikey whined softly.

"Then I'll carry ya there, bonehead," Raph countered. Mikey grumbled to himself but let Raph slide his strong arms under his limp neck and legs. Raph lifted Mikey from the couch and slowly walked to one of the upstairs bedrooms of the farmhouse, with the rest of the group right behind him.

Mikey fell back asleep a few minutes later, and the three turtle brothers silently agreed to stay in his room. But under the firm order of their Sensei, they were kicked out and told to get clean first. Begrudgingly they agreed, but as soon as the dirt and grime was all washed off, they felt much more relaxed. When Mikey woke up from his nap a little while after, Leo and Don helped him take a bath as well. They were pleased to find that Mikey was feeling much better. Though his fever remained, he at least was not in much pain anymore—just tired and weak.

"I guess this means that the medicine is working, huh," Leo mused. "He's not coughing anymore."

"Let's hope it lasts," replied Don. He leaned back to Mikey with a bar of soap. "Okay, let's get you nice and—hey!" Don shook Mikey who was just on the verge of falling asleep where he lay in the tub. "Mikey, please stay awake."

"Mmm…no faaaaair…" Mikey slurred as he sat up again. " 'S nice 'n toasty…"

"Yer such an oddball," came a voice from the door.

Leo and Don whipped their heads around while Mikey whined, "Leooo, Doooon…Raph called me odd…"

"And it wouldn't be the first time," Leo chuckled as he scrubbed more dirt off of Mikey's shell with a rough sponge.

"Need something?" Don asked as Raph stepped into the small bathroom.

"Nah, jus' here ta bring somethin' from Masta' Splinta'," Raph responded. "It's some herbs fer Mike's bath. S'possed ta do healin' or somethin'."

"Oh thanks," Don said. He was handed a bowl from Raph and emptied its contents into the hot water.

"Those better…be more useful…than stinkin' up the bathroom," Mikey murmured sluggishly.

"Mikey, you're gonna damage your throat at this rate," Don warned.

Mikey grumbled but stayed silent. "Oddball," Raph said again with a teasing smile. This time, he got no retort from the youngest.

Finally, the turtles were all clean and ready to tell Splinter, Casey, and April what they had experienced in the forest. After everyone seated themselves in Mikey's room, the story was started. In the beginning, Casey and April had a hard time believing in the wolf spirits the turtles had encountered, but soon they became intrigued by it all. They asked many questions, which Leo, Don, and Raph answered excitedly.

Splinter however stayed quiet throughout the session. The turtles were puzzled by his unusual silence, and even more baffled when they reached the end of their story. Splinter gave not a troubled frown—as he usually did when the four brothers got mixed up in dangerous situations—but a satisfied smile. It was as if he knew something that the turtles did not. But how could that be when it was _he_ who had been in the dark as _they_ had been away on an adventure?

After Casey and April left to start making dinner, Mikey could no longer hide his curiosity. "Something funny, Sensei?" he whispered hoarsely.

He was shushed by Don immediately, who reminded his brother yet again: "Mikey, please don't strain your throat, let it heal first!"

Splinter chuckled a bit and looked to his sons. "Michelangelo, Donatello, Leonardo, Raphael—" the four turtles whipped their heads to Splinter "—I believe that now, I must share a story with you as well."

"Sensei?" Leo said, confused.

Splinter got up, walked over to where Mikey was sitting up in bed, and placed a comforting hand on the turtle's warm shoulder. "You see, the day we arrived at the farmhouse, I was contacted by the Damiyo. He told me of a clan of forest spirits that he had felt unrest in, and asked if I could help solve this problem in his place." The turtles' eyes widened.

Don shook his head in disbelief. "D-don't tell me…"

"…you knew about this all along?" Leo finished.

Splinter nodded. "Indeed. It was the Damiyo who had informed me about the truth behind the clearing marked by the large boulder. He needed someone with great spiritual power, and I agreed to send you four on the mission." He sighed. "But, when I heard of Michelangelo's illness, I had hoped that you could escape the forest to tend to him first."

"But we failed to do that," Leo said curtly.

Splinter gave an unexpected smile. "And perhaps it was meant to be." While Leo, Mikey and Raph looked puzzled, Don dipped his head in thought and brought a hand to his chin. Splinter stood up. "You did well, my sons. Now then, I will assist Mr. Jones and Ms. O'neil with dinner," he said with a warm smile. He closed the door behind him.

"You know, what Master Splinter said might be true actually," Don reasoned, breaking the silence. "We definitely wouldn't have been in such a complex situation if Mikey hadn't been sick, and because of that—captured with Leo."

"My bad," Mikey whispered. He gave a playful smile, but his brothers could easily see behind that cheerful mask—Mikey was still upset over his condition.

Raph barely restrained himself from knocking the youngest on the head like usual. Instead, he replied hotly, "Donnie's sayin' it's a good thing, shell-fer-brains."

"Exactly," Don agreed quickly. "Listen, Mikey," he said, getting the youngest's attention, "if you hadn't been sick like that, we probably would have—"

"—Beat the stuffin' outta those wolves," Raph interrupted proudly, his fist hitting an open hand.

With a weary sigh, Don resumed his explanation. "Yes, well, after that I'm sure we wouldn't have been much help. In fact, we regrettably would have made the situation worse."

"Dagger wouldn't have changed if it wasn't for us," Leo added.

" 'An King would'a still been a stupid flea-bag of a leader," Raph continued.

Mikey smiled. "Okay, I get it, guys," he whispered. Suddenly, his smile dropped as he winced and shifted a bit. "Um…"

"You need something?" Leo said, concerned.

Mikey looked up hesitantly. "Yeah, I just…'m kinda feelin' bad again…" Mikey's voice cracked and he made a pained sound.

Leo made space for Don who moved closer to Mikey. "You're going to have to be more specific," he said gently.

Mikey fidgeted with the blanket between his hands. He looked embarrassed.

"Hey, hey—it's okay to feel bad." Leo said, taking one of Mikey's hands tenderly. "That's why we're here for you. I promised that you'd get better, right?"

Mikey nodded weakly. "My throat...'s hurting a lot more," he said softly.

Don placed two fingers under Mikey's jaw on both sides. Mikey flinched at the contact, but Leo calmed him by squeezing his hand. "Your lymph nodes are still pretty swollen…" Don felt around carefully. "And it's been—how long? About…a little more than four hours by now. Yeah, that sounds about right—the medicine probably wore off." He gave a pat on Mikey's head and started to walk out of the room. "Be right back." When he returned, he had Mikey take more of the thick, red medicine. At the use of his throat, the turtle's forehead creased with pain.

"Don'cha keep quiet about what hurts, Mikey," Raph said as soon as Mikey had finished.

Leo squeezed Mikey's hand one more time before he let go and sat himself down on a corner of the bed next to Don. "I'm sure we'll be regretting those words in a few days," he said with a knowing sigh.

Don groaned. "He's gonna annoy the shell out of us, isn't he?"

While Mikey put on an innocent face, Raph snickered lightly. " 'S what little brothers are for I guess."

Leo chuckled along with Raph while Don went to feel Mikey's forehead. "Hmm…it's definitely a lower temperature than before," he said, pulling back. "Still, it's gonna take a lot of TLC to get you back to normal."

"And that's why we're here—to help you," Leo said, giving a meaningful stare to the youngest.

Mikey gave his trademark smile, surprising his older brothers for a moment. " 'Cause that's what…big brothers are for…"

"Getting' betta' already, huh?" Raph snorted, tapping Mikey on the shoulder. "Now get some rest, ya bonehead."

"Mhmm…" responded Mikey drowsily, eyes already half-closed. He got another tap on the shoulder from Raph, a massaging squeeze on the back on the neck from Leo, and a chaste kiss on the forehead from Don.

"Sleep tight Mikey," said Leo.

"And call us if you need _anything_, okay?" Don insisted. He and Leo exited the room.

It was Raph who shut off the lights and turned to close the door. He paused before shutting it, but didn't turn back. "Love ya, little bro," he whispered. He wasn't sure if Mikey caught his heartfelt confession, but he reasoned it was probably better that way. The door was closed almost all the way; Raph wanted to leave it open by a crack, just in case. It was then that he heard a faint cough.

A small, hoarse voice rang out in the silence. "Dork."

Raph laughed all the way down to the kitchen. Yeah, he knew Mikey was definitely going to get better. The farmhouse wouldn't be quiet for much longer, and that was just the way he liked it.


End file.
